Dr. Jane Goodall, known for her work as a chimpanzee advocate, left behind a mountain of research and scientific accomplishments when she died. Goodall was 91 when her eponymous institute announced her death in a statement on October 1, 2025.
“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,” the institute announced. “She was in California as part of her speaking tour in the United States. Dr. Goodall’s discoveries as an ethologist revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world.”
Weeks later, on October 20, 2025, TMZ reported that Goodall’s death certificate listed cardiopulmonary arrest—another term for cardiac arrest—as her official cause of death.