Jane Goodall, a world-renowned primatologist, has passed away at the age of 91.
A post from the Jane Goodall Institute’s Instagram account confirmed her death on Wednesday, saying she died of natural causes in California while on a speaking tour of the United States.
Goodall, who was born in London on April 3, 1934, gained international recognition in the 1960s for her groundbreaking field research at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania. She was the first scientist to document chimpanzees making and using tools, a finding that forced her mentor Louis Leakey to famously declare that humans would need to “redefine ‘tool,’ redefine ‘man,’ or accept chimpanzees as humans,” according to accounts published in The New York Times.
Her observations revealed striking parallels between humans and chimpanzees.
“They kiss, embrace, hold hands, pat one another on the back. They show love and compassion, and they also show violence and have a kind of primitive warfare,” Goodall said in a 2015 video.
Her willingness to describe chimps in human terms challenged scientific orthodoxy at the time but helped transform public attitudes toward animals.
Goodall’s pioneering work earned her global acclaim, including television specials, numerous books, and lectures that reached millions.
She founded the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977, which has since grown into one of the largest conservation and animal advocacy organizations in the world. She also launched Roots & Shoots in 1991, a youth program active in over 100 countries.
Beyond her scientific achievements, Goodall received recognition from royalty. In 2003, Queen Elizabeth II made her a dame of the British Empire.
Goodall’s life and work were not limited to the forests of Africa. She became a cultural figure and earned the admiration of some in the Trump family. Goodall was quoted in one of Ivanka Trump’s books, per The Washington Post.
Goodall sometimes made headlines for unexpected reasons. In 2014, she surprised the world by remarking that her favorite animals were dogs, according to The Globe and Mail.
She often said that her childhood fascination with Tarzan and Doctor Dolittle spurred her dream of living among animals.
With little formal training, she set out for Africa in 1957, where a meeting with Leakey set her on the path that would define her life. She was later accepted into the University of Cambridge’s doctoral program without an undergraduate degree and went on to earn her Ph.D. in ethology.
She is survived by her son, Hugo Eric Louis van Lawick, her sister, Judy Waters, and three grandchildren.