Jane Goodall died at the age of 91 yesterday 1 October 2025, the primatologist who revolutionized ethology (the study of animal behavior) and the man-natural relationship. Born in London on April 3, 1934, he dedicated his life to the study of primates and their conservation. The meeting with the anthropologist and paleontologist Louis Leikey in 1957 was a turning point. Already passionate about animals he was chosen by Leikey to conduct pioneering studies on animal behavior at the Gombe Stream Research Center in Tanzania, where Goodall observed and was in close contact with chimpanzees in their natural habitat. His discoveries were sensational, for example, the observation of a chimpanzee – to which the ethologist gave his own names such as David Greybeard – who used a sprig to capture Termiti was essential to understand that in addition to man, primates also build and use tools. In addition to this he collected unknown information on their diet, complex social structures and violent behavior. The Foundation has been active since 1977 Jane Goodall Institute To promote the conservation of primates and their environment and environmental and civic education projects.
The origins of the passion for the animal world and the stream research center tires
Since he was a child, Jane Goodall, born on April 3, 1934 in London as Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall and raised in Bournemouth, dreamed of Africa and animals, a passion encouraged above all by his mother Vanne and inspired by stories like Tarzan and Dr. Dolittle.
Without a degree, he worked as a secretary until he managed to make his dream of going to Africa come true. In Kenya he met the famous paleoanthropologist Louis Leikeywho saw in her the right person for a long -term study on chimpanzees, precisely because he did not have a scientific training that could influence his observations. He later was Leikey who pushed her to graduate in ethology a Cambridge To give credibility to his work, since at the time the scientific world looked with skepticism to a young slender body woman who led research alone in the forest among the chimpanzees.
Returning to Africa, precisely in Tanzania, the now ethologist began his research work at the Trove Stream Research Center.
The discoveries that rewritten ethology
The work on the field of Jane Goodall distinguished itself from the first moment for its innovative approach: instead of observing the chimpanzees from afar and in a detached way, immersed in their world by entering close contact and being accepted by all the specimens. Also, he made a choice that was criticized at the time, gave own names to the chimpanzees (such as Fifi, Frodo, David Greybeard, Goliath) instead of numbers, recognizing them for the first time the animals like individuals with distinct personalities. This revolutionary method opened the doors for uncoveries and unique observations that showed chimpanzee behaviors which until then were associated only with man:
- The use and manufacture of tools: Jane documented the use by the chimpanzees of twigs, carefully deprived of their leaves, to extract the end from the holes and feed on these insects.
- The non -vegetarian diet: Goodall denied the belief that the chimpanzees were herbivores or that they only feed on insects, documenting their hunting trips, with precise patterns, and the consumption of meat of small mammals.
- The complex company: The chimpanzees observed by Jane had elaborate social structures, in which family ties counted and struggles occurred between males for power. He also recorded aggressive and violent premeditated behaviors between different groups, the killing of small, acts of cannibalism, all dictated by a hierarchical structure.
Overall, the research work allowed to understand that chimpanzees are able to solve problems by reasoning and feeling emotions similar to ours as joy, amazement, pain, cruelty and altruism. In 1963, following the discovery regarding the construction of tools to get food, Dr. Leikey said:
Now we have to redefine the concept of “tool”, or that of “man”, or accept chimpanzees as humans.
From science to activism: the Jane Goodall Institute
Goodall in his career did not “limit” to research but became an activist to safeguard the monkeys and their natural habitats. In 1977 the Jane Goodall Institutean international non-profit organization, with the aim of fighting for the conservation of species of primates and sensitizing the population on the subject. In those years, in fact, Goodall realized the dramatic decrease in chimpanzee populations due to poaching and deforestation. In addition, campaigns against the use of primates in scientific experimentation, to stop the African wild meat trade and save chimpanzees from illegal animal trafficking. Just this last commitment was immortalized in the moving video of his meeting with the Wounda chimpanzee. The Foundation is active in more than twenty countries all over the world, including Italy, France, USA, Spain and Kenya, with environmental education projects, reforestation and civic sense. An example is the program for young people Roots & Shoots Active since 1991.
Jane Goodall has been awarded numerous honors worldwide, including the title of “Messaggero della Pace” of the United Nations, Lady of the British Empire and the UNESCO gold medal. It also boasts vast literary production with autobiographies, children’s books and important scientific works such as “The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior“universally recognized as the reference text on chimpanzees and the peak of his scientific career.
Jane has therefore not limited himself to scientific discoveries, but has become the protagonist of a cultural change in the way man perceives intelligence and animal emotion.
