By Hannah Roberts
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British conservationist and chimpanzee expert Dame Jane Goodall has died aged 91, The Jane Goodall Institute said.
Dame Jane, who was the world’s leading expert on chimpanzee behaviour and defender of the creature’s habitat, was in California when she died from “natural causes”.
A statement shared to Facebook said: “The Jane Goodall Institute learned this morning, Wednesday 1 October 2025, that Dr Jane Goodall DBE, UN Messenger of Peace and founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, has passed away from natural causes.
“She was in California as part of her speaking tour in the United States.
“Dr Goodall’s discoveries as an ethologist transformed science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of the natural world.”
Born in London in 1934, Dame Jane began researching free-living chimpanzees in Tanzania in 1960.
She observed a chimpanzee named David Greybeard make a tool from twigs and use it to fish termites from a nest, a ground-breaking observation that challenged the definition of humans as the single species capable of making tools.
In 1977 she founded the Jane Goodall Institute, which works to protect the species and supports youth projects aimed at benefiting animals and the environment.
In 2002 she was handed a prominent United Nations role when she became a Messenger of Peace.
A post to the official X account of the UN said: “Today, the UN family mourns the loss of Dr Jane Goodall. The scientist, conservationist and UN Messenger of Peace worked tirelessly for our planet and all its inhabitants, leaving an extraordinary legacy for humanity and nature.”
Dame Jane, who was regarded as the world’s foremost authority on chimpanzees, was awarded a damehood in 2004, and was invested by the then-Prince of Wales, now King, at Buckingham Palace.
The primatologist said, however, that her most prized distinction was becoming the UN Messenger of Peace.
Her research on chimpanzees is the longest field study ever undertaken of any group of animals in the wild.
When she began her work in 1960, it was unheard of for a woman to venture into the wilds of Africa.
Dame Jane also founded her Roots and Shoots global leadership programme to inspire young people to change their communities, environment and local wildlife for the better.
Established in 1991 with just 12 Tanzanian high school students, the initiative involves young people in more than 60 countries.
