Jane Goodall dead: World's 'top expert on chimpanzees' passes away at 91

Tributes have been paid to legendary chimpanzee expert Dr Jane Goodall, who has died aged 91.

Widely considered the world's leading expert on the creatures, the UN Messenger of Peace and Founder dedicated her life to the protection of the animals with her ground-breaking studies. The primatologist passed away while on tour in California.

A post on her institute's Facebook page said: "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.

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"She was in California as part of her speaking tour in the United States. Dr. Goodall's discoveries as an ethologist revolutionised science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world."

The ethologist, a winner of the Mirror's Animal Hero award, worked with the incredible creatures for almost 70 years. Jane – who was made a dame in recognition of her achievements – previously recalled the moment she was accepted by the chimp community when a primate she named David Greybeard, due to his silver facial hair, first ­approached her.

She said in 2020: “The chimpanzees spent the first two to three months running away from me and I’d get upset because I knew if I didn’t see something exciting, funding would run out for the project.

“They eventually tolerated me. But David Greybeard will always be special because he was the first of the chimpanzees to come close to me. Then one day he took a banana from my hand. He was amazingly gentle.”

What followed was an extraordinary relationship between Jane and the apes, caught on film by a cameraman who would later become her husband. She admitted there were times she was scared.

“The chimpanzees are 10 times stronger than me and when the big males charged or sometimes hit me, it was scary but I was there for a reason.”

Dame Jane was born in London in 1934 and began researching free-living chimpanzees in Tanzania in 1960.

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."