Jane Goodall, the pioneering primatologist and conservationist, has died at the age of 91. Having dedicated her life to the study of chimpanzees and to protecting endangered species, her conservation work took her all over the world, while her own institute – the Jane Goodall Institute – helped advance her vision of global and community action to defend habitat loss.
Venturing into a scientific world largely dominated by men, Goodall’s study of wild chimpanzees began more than 60 years ago in Tanzania. There, she discovered how threatened the survival of their species was by habitat destruction and illegal trafficking. As such, she developed a breakthrough approach that underpins our modern understanding of species conservation.
She was considered the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees. In 2018, she told Time Magazine: “I didn’t have any female explorers or scientists to look up to, but I was inspired by Dr. Dolittle, Tarzan and Mowgli in The Jungle Book — all male characters. It was only my mother who supported my dream.”
After a childhood being fascinated by animals, she left London for Africa in her twenties, where a chance encounter with a leading primatologist, Professor Louis Leakey, led to the funding for her first research trip in 1960. That same year, she witnessed a large male chimpanzee in Tanzania digging with a stick, becoming the first person to observe an animal using a tool. These groundbreaking studies were published in leading journals – including the cover of the National Geographic – before she gained worldwide fame after being featured in a documentary narrated by Orson Welles. Her unique and warm research approach (she often called chimpanzees her “friends”) set Goodall apart from her male peers in the scientific world.
In 1977, she founded the Jane Goodall Institute which directly supported conservation efforts. Her tireless activism efforts continued right into her eighties, from appearances on the Call Her Daddy podcast to being recognised in both a Barbie doll and a Lego set. She died in California, days before a sold-out event she was due to speak at.
If you’re looking to read more about her life and legacy, Jane Goodall has written more than 30 books – you can discover some of her most popular titles below.
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