If you are considering a career helping animals, are you thinking about being a veterinarian? How about working with tool-making chimpanzees in remote Africa?

Twenty-nine-year-old Crickette Sanz is a young researcher at Washington University. She's always had an interest in biology and English but she says she didn't have a definite career goal.

"I grew up in a farming community of Bow, Washington. My notion of animal behavior consisted of 4-H with my horse," she said. "But, I was never inspired by the traditional options provided by my career counselor," she added.

Even when admitted to college, she didn't declare a major.

Her mentor at Central Washington University told her not to decide too early on a specific career goal. But, the professor said, "Always have a direction."

Ms. Sanz decided she liked apes. Of course, apes aren't native to Washington state.

But, her college had some. In fact, they had five chimpanzees that had been taught the American sign language.

Ms. Sanz applied to be a volunteer in the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute. And she used that work to earn her bachelor's and master's degrees in experimental psychology.

When she came to Washington University in St. Louis, she shifted to biological anthropology. She focused her research to wild chimpanzees.

And, starting in 1999, she found the perfect place to work. That was a remote African jungle in what is called the Goualougo Triangle in the Republic of Congo.

This is a "pristine forest" that has been scheduled for heavy logging within a few years. Thus, her research is very important if the natural habitat for the chimps is to be saved.

Her research there is starting to get international attention.

Last fall, she and two other researchers published a research paper entitled, "New Insights into Chimpanzees, Tools and Termites from the Congo Basin." The report appeared in The American Naturalist, a scientific journal.

The unique thing about the Goualougo chimps is they make types of tools never observed before. They use wooden tools to help them capture their favorite food, termites.

Ms. Sanz and her fellow researchers based their findings on hours of video-tape.

"One of the new observations was the tool kits used by chimpanzees to prey upon termites," she said.

But, initially the chimps were "too shy to allow us to watch them at close ranges," she said. The answer

Crickette and colleague set up the video camera

was "to install video cameras near the termite nests where we regularly found their tools," she said.

The chimps had two types of tools to open termite nests. First, there were punches. A heavier punch helped them break into tougher ground nests. Getting into above-ground nests was easier so they could use a lighter punch.

Then, there were "fishing probes." These were plant stems where the chimps have removed the leaves. The frayed ends look a little like paintbrushes. When the termites push them into the nests, the termites bite the frayed fibers.

A chimp uses a tool to probe for termites

Then, the chimps pull the probes out and the termites are just waiting there to be eaten.

"We have provided conclusive evidence that chimpanzees in central Africa are using different tool technologies to prey upon termites," their report said.

"The chimpanzees consistently fashioned tools made of specific materials that had uniform lengths and diameters suitable for distinct tasks in termite predation," it added.

Ms. Sanz has a dual appointment. She is at Washington University and the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.

In Germany, she works with Dr. Christophe Boesch, Planck's director of primatology.

She said Boesch had worked with chimps for 30 years and never observed the type of tool use she found with the Kenyan chimpanzees. She is a post-doctoral researcher at the Planck Institute.

About her career path, Ms. Sanz said, "My career has far exceeded my greatest expectations." One of the things that is so gratifying is she's established a career in a field where many researchers thought all the important questions had been answered.

"But, that is simply not true. There are many discoveries still to be made by many future generations of primatologists," she said.

"It is our obligation as scientists and conservationists to ensure the long-term survival of these apes. I know my direction and will see what opportunities await me around the bend," she added.

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