Primatologist Jane Goodall, famous for her study of chimpanzees, has died | UK News

Jane Goodall, known for her ground-breaking studies of chimpanzees, has died aged 91.

A post on her institute’s Facebook page said she died on Wednesday morning from natural causes while in California as part of a speaking tour.

“Dr. Goodall’s discoveries as an ethologist revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world,” said the post.

Goodall was widely considered the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees.

She began her research at 26, observing the primates in east Africa and revealing their capability to engage in complex social behaviours.

Goodall gave chimps names instead of numbers, observed their distinct personalities, their use of tools, and incorporated family relationships and emotions into her work.

The London-born expert appeared in many National Geographic programmes and wrote more than 30 books.

She also laid a path for other female primatologists and conservationists, including Dian Fossey (portrayed by Sigourney Weaver in Gorillas In The Mist).

Later in her career, Goodall shifted more towards climate advocacy after seeing animal habitats diminishing and spoke to Sky News about the issue in June.

Goodall was made a dame in 2003 and earlier this year was awarded the prestigious US Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Moving to Bournemouth as a child, she described how she always dreamed of working with wild animals – a passion stoked by the gift of a toy gorilla and reading books such as Tarzan and Dr Dolittle.

Goodall got her wish in 1957 when she saved enough money for a boat trip to Kenya.

It was there that she met famed anthropologist and palaeontologist Dr Louis Leakey and his wife Mary Leakey, an encounter that set up her long career.

She established the Gombe Stream chimpanzee reserve in present-day Tanzania, discovering that chimps also ate meat, fought fierce wars, and – perhaps most importantly – made tools.

Goodall lived in the jungle for years, marrying wildlife cameraman and collaborator Hugo van Lawick.

However, she realised she would have to take up a vocal role as a conservationist in order to protect the primates.

Her institute launched in 1977 and Goodall ended up travelling extensively to press her cause. She was still doing those world tours up until her death.

“It never ceases to amaze me that there’s this person who travels around and does all these things,” she told the New York Times during a 2014 trip to Burundi and back to Gombe.

“And it’s me. It doesn’t seem like me at all.”