Dame Jane Goodall, the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees, has recently passed away.
The news was announced by the The Jane Goodall Institute on 2 October, saying, “The Jane Goodall Institute has learned this morning, Wednesday, October 1, 2025, that Dr. Jane Goodall DBE, UN Messenger of Peace and Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute has passed away due to natural causes.”
“She was in California as part of her speaking tour in the United States,” they added.
Goodall, who was the protege of the noted anthropologist Louis S.B Leakey, was the subject of various documentaries, with the most recent one being the 2023 Imax film “Jane Goodall: Reasons for Hope”.
Having studied the social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees for over 60 years, she was the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and the Roots & Shoots programme and had worked extensively on conservation and animal welfare issues.
Goodall was also featured in popular culture, from having a song written about her by Stevie Nicks, to making appearances on shows like “The Wild Thornberrys” and “The Simpsons”.
She was 91.
