Jane Goodall, one of the worlds experts on chimpanzees, whose work was captured in more than 40 documentaries, died this Wednesday in Los Angeles, at 91 years old.
The Jane Goodall institute posted an online statement, saying, “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.”
Jane Goodall has been featured in over 40 documentaries produced by National Geographic, Animal Planet, Disneynature, and others. Her life and work were prominently showcased in the 2017 documentary Jane, which was created from 140 hours of previously unseen footage from National Geographic’s archives. The film earned two Primetime Emmys along with several other awards. Most recently, the 2023 IMAX film Jane Goodall: Reasons for Hope highlighted her efforts in habitat restoration.
In 1977, she founded the Jane Goodall Institute to promote research on great apes. She also launched Roots & Shoots, a youth-focused program, and TACARE, an initiative aimed at supporting sustainable development in African communities.
According to the foundation, she adopted an “unorthodox approach” to studying chimpanzees by fully immersing herself in their environment and daily lives, choosing to observe them as a neighbor within their society rather than as a detached observer.
Goodall’s research showed that chimpanzees use sticks as tools to fish for termites, overturning the long-standing belief that tool use was unique to humans. She also documented their ability to communicate, their complex social dynamics, their consumption of meat, and instances of aggression within their groups.
Robert Seyfarth, professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania and an expert in primate behavior, remarked that Goodall’s passing “marks the end of an era.”
“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 Jane Goodall Institute said.
