On October 1, 2025, 91-year-old Jane Goodall passed away from natural causes while sleeping. Her death coincided with her speaking tour in which she travelled throughout the country, sadly ending prematurely in Los Angeles, California, where she passed. This sent shockwaves of grief throughout the world, beginning a global mourning. Goodall was known most for her research breakthrough on the Kasakela chimpanzees in Africa in 1960, in which she made incredible discoveries, such as the fact that animals can feel complex emotions and show high marks of intelligence when performing tasks like caring for their young, making tools, and utilizing the environment around them to acquire food. Goodall continued her research in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, and eventually established the Jane Goodall Institute to support and protect chimpanzees and their habitats. She achieved numerous awards throughout her life, most notably the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communications in 2022 for her long-term study on chimpanzees and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025, awarded by former President Joe Biden. Millions praised her for her continuous support of zoology and research on wildlife, as well as her advocacy work, which successfully contributed to ending animal testing on Chimpanzees in countries across the globe. Without Goodall, environmentalism and society’s understanding of nature and the animals within it would be nowhere near where it is today. For that, the world owes a great deal of gratitude to Dr. Jane Goodall.
