World-renowned chimpanzee researcher and conservationist Dr. Jane Goodall passed away peacefully in her sleep while in Los Angeles, California, where she was on a speaking tour in the United States. She was 91 years old.
Her life’s work transformed not only our understanding of chimpanzees and other species, but also offered profound insights into humanity and the shared environment we depend on. She sparked curiosity, hope, and compassion in countless people worldwide, inspiring generations–especially young people, in whom she placed great hope for the future.
A glimpse into Goodall’s life
Jane Goodall was born in London on April 3, 1934, and developed an early fascination with animals after receiving a stuffed toy chimpanzee from her father–a cherished companion she kept throughout her life. As a child, she immersed herself in Tarzan stories about a boy raised by apes who falls in love with a woman named Jane.
In 1957, she accepted a friend’s invitation to Kenya, where she began working with the famed paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey. Leakey later sent her to Tanzania to study chimpanzees, making her the first of three women he chose to research great apes in the wild, alongside Dian Fossey from America and Birute Galdikas from Canada.
Goodall’s discovery that changed our understanding on animal behaviour
Goodall’s groundbreaking discovery revealed that chimpanzees use grass stalks and twigs as tools to extract termites from their mounds, revolutionising science’s understanding of animal behaviour. Leakey encouraged her to pursue a doctorate at Cambridge University, where she became only the eighth person ever awarded a PhD without holding an undergraduate degree.
Her work also shed light on the darker side of chimpanzee society, documenting acts of violence such as infanticide and territorial warfare, which challenged the belief that they were gentler than humans.
Goodall was a conservation activist to the end
In 1960, Dr. Goodall launched what became the world’s longest-running study of wild chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, a project that continues up till today. For more than four decades, she championed the Jane Goodall Institute’s community-driven conservation programs across chimpanzee habitats.
In 1977, Goodall founded the Jane Goodall Institute to advance chimpanzee research and conservation. She later established Roots & Shoots in 1991, a youth-driven environmental movement now active in more than 75 countries.
Her activism intensified in the 1980s after attending a U.S. conference that revealed the grim realities facing chimpanzees–ranging from medical experimentation and hunting for bushmeat to massive habitat loss. From that point onward, she dedicated her life to advocacy, traveling the world well into her nineties.
She was scheduled to speak in Los Angeles on 3 October to reflect on her long life and career, followed by another event in Washington, D.C., the following week.
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