Goodall, 91, passed away on October 1, 2025, while on a speaking tour in California, the Jane Goodall Institute confirmed.

Goodall’s name became synonymous with compassion for wildlife and tireless conservation. She first captured global attention in 1960 when she traveled from England to what is now Tanzania to study chimpanzees in the wild — a bold move for a young woman in a male-dominated field.

She recalled to People how she observed chimpanzees using tools: “Using a piece of grass as a tool to fish for termites, then picking leafy twigs and stripping the leaves.” Until then, tool use was thought to be uniquely human.