June 16, 2026

“The first study to provide evidence:” What we’ve learned about chimpanzee fathers through Gombe research

Photo: Hugo van Lawick

Male chimpanzees are constantly portrayed as aggressive and dominating – but long-term research conducted at the Jane Goodall Institute’s Gombe Stream Research Centre has shown that they can also form deep, caring, and loving bonds.

One study, named “Chimpanzee fathers bias their behaviour towards their offspring” and conducted through non-invasive and observational methods, has shown that chimpanzee fathers provide essential care for their own children.

For example, chimpanzee fathers provide protection, especially when kids are most vulnerable – whereas males in other species, like grizzly bears, are known to be solitary and the females care for their cubs.

“We found that fathers associated more with their offspring than they did with non-kin infants, particularly early in life when infanticide risk is highest,” the authors of the study noted. “Additionally, fathers and their infant offspring interacted more than expected.

“Similar to patterns reported in western chimpanzees, we found that fathers played with and groomed their own offspring more than expected. The consistency of these patterns across populations and subspecies suggests that some degree of paternal kin recognition is a salient feature of chimpanzees.”

These paternal efforts underscore an incredible, deep-rooted capacity for fatherly care among chimpanzees. And this research — “to our knowledge, the first study to provide evidence of paternal care in eastern chimpanzees” — offers intriguing insights into our own evolutionary past.

“Our results suggest that a capacity for paternal care existed early in hominin evolution and can occur in the absence of long-term male-female bonds,” the authors of the study wrote in its conclusion.

As we celebrate Father’s Day later this month, we also want to honour the remarkable chimpanzee fathers who have helped with this research. Here’s to each and every one of them!