The world lost an iconic zoologist, conservationist, animal advocate and ground-breaking researcher when Jane Goodall died of natural causes.
Goodall’s pioneering research into chimpanzees in Tanzania in the 1960s found that “animals like us have personalities, minds and emotions, right down from chimpanzees to elephants, dolphins, whales, to the octopus,” she said on TODAY in 2024.
The legendary British anthropologist celebrated her 90th birthday when she appeared on TODAY on April 3, 2024, and spoke about what she hoped her legacy would be.
Here’s what to know about her death.
Jane Goodall’s Cause of Death
The Jane Goodall Institute announced on Oct. 1 that she had died of natural causes.
“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,” the organization said in a statement.
“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.”
Goodall founded the eponymous institute in 1977 to advocate for protection of the world’s great apes and their habitats. She worked to spread her message right up until her death.
“Slow down, Jane, you’re 90.’ I have to speed up because I don’t know how many years left I have,” she said on TODAY in 2024.
What Does Death From Natural Causes Mean?
Death from natural causes means that death occurred from an internal factor that causes the body to shut down rather than any external reason like a traumatic injury, according to the Ohio State University Wexner Center.
It could be the compounded damage to tissues and organs over time or a stroke that could be responsible for a death by natural causes.
“Consider the elasticity of a rubber band. It can be stretched and relaxed multiple times, but it’ll eventually fatigue and snap. Our bodies function in a similar way,” the Wexner Center wrote. “There is only so much elasticity in life before a person’s body cannot ‘bounce back.'”
How Old Was Jane Goodall When She Died?
The world’s foremost chimpanzee expert was 91 when she died.
She was born in London in 1934 and eventually moved to Tanzania in the 1960s to conduct her ground-breaking research with chimpanzees.
Goodall was still advocating for animals into her 90s. She appeared on TODAY on her 90th birthday in April 2024.
“I would like my legacy to be a), the fact that because of the chimpanzee studies, science began to recognize animals like us have personalities, minds and emotions,” she said. “Secondly, starting the program for young people, Roots & Shoots, which is now in 70 countries around the world.”