Jane Goodall Dies at 91

Dr. Jane Goodall has died at 91, the Jane Goodall Institute said, reporting she passed away of natural causes in California on Oct. 1 while on a speaking tour. Born in London in 1934, Goodall began her pioneering study of free‑living chimpanzees at Gombe Stream in Tanzania in 1960, documenting tool use and complex social behavior that reshaped scientific understanding of primate and human similarities. She founded the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977, served as a UN Messenger of Peace, and spent more than six decades combining rigorous field research with global conservation advocacy and youth outreach programs such as Roots & Shoots. Her death prompted tributes from world leaders, conservation groups, zoos and academic centers worldwide. Her legacy endures in the institute, education initiatives and a profound shift in how humanity views and values other primates and their habitats.