Jane Goodall Dies Aged 91 on Oct. 1

Dr. Jane Goodall, the pioneering primatologist and conservationist, died aged 91 of natural causes in California on October 1, 2025, while on a U.S. speaking tour, the Jane Goodall Institute announced at a Roots & Shoots event. Her decades of fieldwork at Gombe National Park — including documenting tool use, complex social bonds, emotions and individual personalities in chimpanzees — transformed primatology and reshaped thinking about animal intelligence and conservation. She founded the Jane Goodall Institute and the Roots & Shoots youth program, authored numerous books, and remained an active campaigner for wildlife protection and environmental restoration into her 90s; in a final recorded message she urged young people to act and consider the consequences of small choices. Leaders and public figures worldwide paid tribute, including the Prince of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, senior U.S. officials and the U.N. secretary‑general, as well as political figures from Taiwan. Her many honors — including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and her role as a U.N. Messenger of Peace — underscore a legacy that mobilized generations of scientists, activists and the public to protect the planet.