August 26, 2026

What is chimpanzee grooming — and why do chimpanzees groom each other?

Photo: Dr. Jane Goodall

In this photo, which Dr. Jane took, you can see chimpanzees engaged in grooming — behaviour that researchers at Gombe Stream Research Centre have concluded is more than hygiene. In fact, even though tenderness was one thought to be exclusively human behaviour, grooming is one of the most essential behaviours for chimpanzees.

Grooming helps build trust, lower stress, resolve conflict, and strengthen bonds between chimpanzees. In other words, it’s how chimpanzees maintain the complex and intelligent social networks that they have.

This behaviour reflects dynamics within groups, too. Who grooms whom — and how often they groom them — can reveal relationships, hierarchies, and alliances within groups.

Young chimpanzees can learn social rules through grooming, too. They watch, they imitate, and they practice respect through this behaviour. And when problems happen, grooming can act as one form of reconciliation — helping chimpanzees reduce tension and restore peace.

Gombe is one of the few spots in the world where researchers have studied chimpanzee grooming behaviour across generations — revealing how culture, care, and connection evolve within the animal world.