Dame Jane Goodall, the renowned primatologist and conservationist, has died aged 91. The Jane Goodall Institute said she died of natural causes in California while on a speaking tour. She had been due to meet students and teachers to plant 5,000 trees in wildfire burn zones around Los Angeles, with the event set to take place at the EF Academy in Pasadena. Organisers confirmed the first tree would be planted in her name after a moment of silence.

Her work in Africa in the 1960s transformed views of chimpanzees. Living with the animals in what is now Tanzania, she documented tool use and other behaviours previously believed unique to humans, while noting their personalities and social bonds. Her findings, amplified by a National Geographic cover in 1963 and subsequent documentaries, helped reshape how the world viewed humans’ closest relatives and the emotional lives of animals.

UNESCO director-general Audrey Azoulay paid tribute, noting that Goodall changed humanity’s understanding of its place in an interconnected world. Goodall received numerous honours, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025 and the Templeton Prize in 2021. In later years she focused on education and advocacy, launched Vote for Nature ahead of elections, and produced the Jane Goodall Hopecast podcast to discuss conservation and climate change.