Dame Jane Goodall died after suffering cardiac arrest, according to reports.
The acclaimed chimpanzee expert, who revolutionized the world’s understanding of animal behavior, was found dead at the age of 91 on October 1.
According to TMZ, her death certificate lists her cause of death as cardiopulmonary arrest, another name for cardiac arrest. The risk of cardiac arrest increases considerably in old age, so Goodall’s death is being treated as of natural causes.
The much-loved zoologist, primatologist and anthropologist championed chimpanzee protection for more than six decades, also becoming a tireless advocate of the wider natural world and the environment.
As well as establishing the Jane Goodall Institutes to promote wildlife and environment conservation, she founded an environmental and humanitarian program called Roots & Shoots, wrote books on chimps and conservation, and became the subject of more than 40 films and documentaries.
The list of awards Goodall was given ran to nine pages on her CV, and she was an inspirational role model for young women in science through her high-profile and groundbreaking work in a male-dominated field.
In 2002, she was designated a UN Messenger of Peace, later telling the UN: “I think it’s more important than ever in the world we live in today that we have a vision of what it would be like to live in a peaceful world, the kind of world we all want, and then to see what we as individuals can do to try and bring that about.”
Goodall was also recognized on The Independent’s Climate 100 list of environmental pioneers on both its inaugural edition in 2024 and again just last month for the 2025 list.
Born in Hampstead, north London, Goodall was fascinated by animals from a young age, having read Dr. Doolittle, a novel about a man who talks to the animals.
When she was just 23 and without higher-education qualifications, she travelled to Kenya and met Louis Leakey, a famed anthropologist. At his invitation, three years on she began studying chimpanzees in Gombe, in what is now Tanzania, Africa.
Goodall noted how chimpanzees communicated in very “human” ways, such as kissing, hugging, fighting and using tools to forage for food.
These pioneering observations also demonstrated that the chimps had individual personalities, and Goodall used her findings to highlight how animals were far more emotionally and socially complex than previously thought.
After turning 90, she continued to travel the world, speaking about the threats facing chimps and environmental crises.
In autumn 2025, she was due to deliver a series of lectures in Canada and the U.S.
Her last book, The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times, written with Douglas Abrams, was translated into more than 20 languages. In it, Dr Goodall said she believed we retained our consciousness after death.
“I can’t think of a greater adventure than what is beyond our mortal life,” she said.
