When Jane first got Julibee (her stuffed chimpanzee), she absolutely fell in love with animals. Once, she hid in their family's hen-house for four hours to observe a chickens eggs being hatched, unaware that her family was searching desperately for her. She would also lay earthworms under pillow at night to observe their behavior, even though they were squished the next day. Jane went to the London Zoo when she was younger, sitting in her stroller, when a dragonfly appeared out of nowhere and got near her face. Screaming, Jane's father immediately grabbed his newspaper he was carrying and smashed the dragonfly with it. Jane's crying got worse because she didn't mean for the creature to die and thought it was her fault.
Jane didn't want to work with chimps until she got older. She realized how magnificent they were and wanted to know more about them. Jane attended the Uplands private school getting her school certificate in 1950 and a higher certificate in 1952.