Jane Goodall died on Oct. 1, 2025, her eponymous Institute announced.
Goodall was 91 years old and on a speaking tour in California when she passed. She is survived by an adult son, Hugo Eric Louis van Lawick, and three grandchildren.
Goodall was famous for studying animal behavior, specifically in chimpanzees, telling ABC News in 2020 of their socialization, “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 an altruistic.”
Find out Jane Goodall’s cause of death and the legacy she leaves behind.
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How did Jane Goodall become famous?
Goodall grew up with a love for animals from a young age and that her mother encouraged her to chase her dream of living in Africa.
She moved to Kenya in 1957 and worked as an executive assistant for anthropologist and paleontologist Louis Leakey. Leakey, impressed with her intellect, drive and love of animals, encouraged Goodall to study primatology in London, then to Tanzania in 1960 to study primates in the wild.
Related: Dr. Jane Goodall Wants You to Eat Less Meat and Her Reasons Are Pretty Sound
Goodall and her mother traveled to Gombe National Park, where Goodall eventually observed a chimpanzee “using a piece of grass as a tool to fish for termites, then picking leafy twigs and stripping the leaves,” she recalled to PEOPLE. Up to that point, only humans were believed to ever use tools.
In 1962, Goodall went back to the U.K., earning a Ph.D. in ethology (the study of animal behavior) from Cambridge University, despite not having a bachelor’s degree. She founded the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977 and authored numerous books on ethology and conservation. She worked tirelessly to protect both chimpanzees and other wildlife, as well as the planet as a whole, for the rest of her life.
She previously told Parade why she continued working well past the normal retirement age of most other people.
“I’m desperate to make a difference before it’s too late,” she urged. “We can just give up, or we can say, ‘“’We’ve done a lot of harm to the environment, but we’re going to fight for what’s left.’”
Related: Jane Goodall Shares the 5 Things That Bring Her Hope
When did Jane Goodall die?
Goodall died Oct. 1, 2025, while on a speaking tour in California.
Related: Jane Goodall’s Last Instagram Post Proves 1 Thing
How old was Jane Goodall when she died?
Born April 3, 1934, Goodall was 91 years young when she passed away.
Related: What Jane Goodall Really Thought of Zoos
What was Jane Goodall’s cause of death?
