Renowned primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall dies at 91; her pioneering work with chimpanzees and conservation legacy remembered. Photo: Amazon Conservation Institute.
Dr. Jane Goodall, the world-renowned primatologist, ethologist, and conservationist, has passed away at the age of 91. The Jane Goodall Institute confirmed her death in a statement Wednesday, noting that she died of natural causes while in California as part of her speaking tour in the United States.
“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. Dr. Goodall’s discoveries as an ethologist revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world,” the statement read.
Born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall on April 3, 1934, in London, Goodall became a global icon for her pioneering study of chimpanzees. Beginning in 1960, she conducted a 60-year-long observational study at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania, revealing unprecedented insights into primate behavior.
Among her most remarkable discoveries was the realization of how similar chimpanzees are to humans.
“Their behavior, with their gestures, kissing, embracing, holding hands and patting on the back. The fact that they can actually be violent and brutal and have a kind of war, but also loving and altruistic,” Goodall told ABC News in 2020.
In 1977, Goodall founded the Jane Goodall Institute, a global nonprofit dedicated to wildlife conservation and community-centered research. The institute also launched Roots & Shoots, a youth empowerment program promoting environmental stewardship.
Her lifelong contributions earned her numerous honors, including being named a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE) in 2003 and receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025 from U.S. President Joe Biden.
Goodall was married twice. Her first husband, Baron Hugo van Lawick, a Dutch nobleman and wildlife photographer, fathered her son, Hugo Eric Louis. The couple divorced in 1974 after roughly ten years of marriage.
A year later, she married Derek Bryceson, a Tanzanian parliamentarian and director of the country’s national parks. Bryceson died of cancer in 1980.
Reflecting on her life after losing her second husband, Goodall told People at age 86, “Well, I didn’t want to. I didn’t meet the right person, I suppose, or potentially the right person. I had lots of men friends, many, I had lots of women friends too. My life was complete. I didn’t need a husband.”
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
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