Overview

• The Jane Goodall Institute announced on Oct. 1 that she died of natural causes while in California for a U.S. speaking tour.
• She was 91 and remained active into her 90s, traveling internationally to advocate for climate action and wildlife protection.
• Beginning in 1960 at Gombe in Tanzania, she documented chimpanzee tool use and rich social behavior, redefining human–animal boundaries in ethology.
• She shifted from field research to institution-building by founding the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977 and the youth program Roots & Shoots in 1991.
• Global tributes followed from leaders and public figures, including UN Secretary‑General António Guterres, UNESCO’s Audrey Azoulay, Jane Fonda and Leonardo DiCaprio.