Dr. Jane Goodall has passed away. She was 91 years old.
The famous conservationist who spent decades studying chimpanzees “died due to natural causes,” a statement released by her institute, shared via Instagram Read on Wednesday for a speaking tour in California.
“Dr. Goodall’s discoveries as an ethologist revolutionized science. She was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world,” the institute continued.
Goodall was most famous for his research with chimpanzees that began in the 1960s at the age of 26 in Gombe National Park in Tanzania.
She was appointed by paleontologist and archaeologist Dr. Louis Leakey and studied the species of the park alongside fellow researchers Dian Fossey and Virut Gardikas, who studied gorillas and orangutans in each northwest of the chimpanzee sanctuary, respectively.
Goodall’s research has shown that chimpanzees resemble humanity in ways that they behave “by gestures” such as “kissing, hugging, holding hands, and slapping on the back (each of them).”
“The fact that they can make using tools,” she told ABC News in 2020.
“They’re like us in all these ways,” Goodall added, and after 60 years of studying, she described chimpanzees as “still learning something new.”
At the time, researchers explained that when they read “Tarzan” and “Doctor Dolittle” at the age of 10, their dream of living among animals sparked.
She recalled the challenges of Tanzania’s “sudden” and “adjusting to mountainous regions and being aware of the leopards and buffaloes in the area.
“But that’s something I’ve always dreamed of,” Goodall gushed, saying she “intended” to perform that type of work.
Goodall founded the J-Goodal Institute in 1977, continuing research into chimpanzees and advocating for protection.
In 1992, she expanded her efforts by establishing the Chimponga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Centre in Congo, which concerns 150 species, according to her website.
Goodwall was also named the UN Messenger of Peace in 2004.
When Goodall celebrated her 90th birthday in 2024, the institute shared that she “traveled about 300 days each year, spreading her inspirational message through her actions.”