Before she passed away at the age of 91, ethologist and conservationist Jane Goodall dedicated her life to learning about the ins and outs of chimpanzees.
Chimpanzee expert Dr Jane Goodall has died aged 91 and leaves behind a very unique legacy. She had long been considered the world’s leading expert on the animal as she dedicated her life to their protection.
The UN Messenger of Peace and Founder took part in ground-breaking studies and died while on tour in California. Jane’s death was confirmed in a post on her Facebook page.
The Jane Goodall Institute learned this morning, on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, that Dr. Jane Goodall, the UN Messenger of Peace and the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, passed away due to natural causes.
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She was speaking in the United States in California. Dr. Goodall was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world as a result of her discoveries as an ethologist. We examine Jane’s legendary career as tributes pour in…
Animals are a part of childhood and animal interest begins.
Jane was the daughter of Margaret Myfanwe Joseph, a businesswoman, and Mortimer Herbert Goodall, a businessman, on April 3, 1934, in London. Her fascination with animals first developed when she was a young child, when she became obsessed with English native birds.
While studying zoology and ethology, she began taking notes and sketches. After reading Tarzan, Jane dreamed of visiting animals in their natural habitats in Africa.
In her free time, Jane worked as a secretary at Oxford University and helped raise money for her trip to Africa at a London film company.
first trip to Africa
A childhood friend invited Jane to Kenya in the late 1950s when she was 23 years old. She was offered a job at a nearby historical museum after meeting paleoanthropologist Dr. Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey while there.
After working for a while, Jane was given the opportunity to travel to Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park to study wild chimpanzees. Dr. Leakey believed Jane would adopt an objective perspective and study chimpanzees with an open mind because of her lack of formal academic training.
Chimpanzee research begins
She made the decision to work at Granada Television’s film library in London Zoo to raise money for the expedition. She and her mother and a cook named Dominic traveled by boat to Gombe Stream National Park on July 14, 1960.
Things didn’t turn out well for Jane, who had a fever that pretended to be malaria and delayed the start of her research. When she recovered, Jane realized the real challenge she had to face because she frequently trekked through rugged terrain without even witnessing a chimpanzee.
David Greybeard
The chimpanzee community accepted Jane, who was made a dame in recognition of her accomplishments, at a turning point. She was taken by a primate named David Greybeard based on his silver facial hair.
She said in 2020, “The chimpanzees ran away from me for the first two to three months, and I’d get upset because I knew funding would run out for the project if I didn’t see anything exciting.”
They eventually accepted my behavior. However, David Greybeard will always be unique because he was the first chimpanzee to pass close to me. Then, one day, he removed a banana from my hand. He was incredibly cunning.
What were Jane’s main findings?
Jane made significant discoveries while visiting the National Park that were previously unreliable. She discovered that chimpanzees use tools and produce their own tools, not herbivores.
In 1962, Jane began a doctoral program at Cambridge University without obtaining a degree. However, she was confronted by scientists over her methods and backlash from readers of her debut book, My Friends, the Wild Chimpanzees.
Although she earned her PHD in 1966, her academic peers were upset, and she stayed in the National Park for the following 20 years.
shift in my career
Following a 1986 conference where she saw the effects of deforestation, Jane made the decision to concentrate on conservation and activism. She put forth efforts to improve the conditions of chimpanzees in medical research facilities, established the Jane Goodall Institute, and facilitated a JGI Roots and Shoots initiative to inspire young people to get involved.
Up until her passing, Jane’s tireless efforts to raise money and awareness for chimpanzees and their habitats were continued. She even traveled 300 days a year on average to spread her message.
Not finished yet
Jane spoke with the Call Her Daddy podcast just four months before her passing to discuss her legacy. Because there is so much to do, Jane said, “This mission keeps me going.”
Because we lose hope, we are doomed because we become indifferent and don’t act. The Jane Goodall Institute has a program called Roots and Shoots for young people, but I’m not the only one.
When host Alex Cooper inquired about Jane’s favorite memory, she replied, “You have left, I am not dead yet. As long as I retire, I can’t stop. My brain continues to function even if I become physically disabled. Because I enjoy writing, I want to write more.
