Karmactive Staff
Jane Goodall, whose groundbreaking research with chimpanzees changed our understanding of animals and humans alike, died Wednesday at age 91. She passed away from natural causes while in California during a speaking tour in the United States, according to an announcement from the Jane Goodall Institute.
“Dr. Goodall’s discoveries as an ethologist revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world,” the institute stated in their social media announcement.
Goodall was just 26 years old when she first traveled to Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park in 1960, beginning what would become the world’s longest and most detailed study of animals in their natural habitat. Though she had no formal scientific training at the time, her patient observations led to the groundbreaking discovery that chimpanzees make and use tools—previously thought to be a uniquely human trait.
“I watched, spellbound, as the chimps set off to a termite mound, picked a small leafy twig, then stripped of it of its leaves,” Goodall recalled in the 2017 documentary “Jane.” This observation fundamentally changed how scientists viewed the relationship between humans and animals.
Over decades of research, Goodall documented that chimpanzees have distinct personalities, complex emotions, and social structures. She named the animals she studied rather than assigning them numbers, a practice that initially drew criticism from traditional scientists but eventually transformed the field of animal research.
In 1977, Goodall established the Jane Goodall Institute to continue her research and conservation efforts. In 1991, she launched Roots & Shoots, a global youth program aimed at environmental education and action that now operates in more than 60 countries.
Goodall received numerous honors throughout her life, including being named a UN Messenger of Peace in 2002, receiving the Templeton Prize in 2021, and being awarded the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025.
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Her death occurred shortly before she was scheduled to attend a tree-planting event in Pasadena, California. At the event, a pre-recorded video message from Goodall was played, in which she expressed her hope in young people: “I’ve been working on trying to make this a better world for animals, people, and the environment, flat out, since 1986, and one of my greatest reasons for hope in this battered world is the youth.”
Tributes poured in from world leaders, conservationists, and celebrities following the announcement of her death. Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called her “a pioneer whose research and advocacy reshaped our understanding of the natural world,” while Maria Shriver described her as “a legendary figure” who “changed the world and the lives of everyone she impacted.”
Throughout her later years, Goodall remained active in conservation and climate advocacy, traveling up to 300 days per year well into her 80s to speak on environmental issues. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she continued her advocacy virtually, warning that humanity’s relationship with wildlife had contributed to the emergence of new viruses.
“We need to realize we’re part of the environment, that we need the natural world. We depend on it,” Goodall told CBS News in 2020. “We can’t go on destroying. We’ve got to somehow understand that we’re not separated from it; we are all intertwined. Harm nature, harm ourselves.”
Jane Goodall’s legacy includes not only her scientific discoveries but also her impact on women in science. The Jane Goodall Institute notes that women in STEM fields increased from 7% to 26% over the six decades since she began her work, according to census data from 1970 to 2011.
