Jane Goodall, who knew more about chimpanzees than anyone, died from natural causes today while she was on a speaking tour in California. Goodall spent decades studying chimpanzees in Tanzania, but also dedicated many years working to reform the treatment of chimpanzees and other wild animals, educate people about animals, and to protect their habitats.
Since childhood, Goodall dreamed of going to Africa to work with elephants. She went to Kenya and got a job as a secretary for Dr. Louis Leakey, who sent her to the Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania to study chimpanzees as part of Leakey's Trimates plan. Goodall also earned a PhD in ethology from Cambridge, despite the fact that she didn't have a bachelor's degree. Her work for National Geographic brought her research to a worldwide audience. In 1977, she founded the Jane Goodall Institute, and went on to found other organizations to care for orphaned chimpanzees, to set aside animal reserves, and to advocate for the environment. She almost single-handedly ended the practice of using chimpanzees for medical research at the NIH.
If you see a reference to "that Jane Goodall tramp" (like in our archives) be aware that it is not meant to be derogatory. It was the punch line to a 1987 Far Side comic. The Jane Goodall Institute took umbrage at the comic, but when Goodall arrived from Africa, she found it amusing, and later called it her favorite depiction in pop culture. Goodall later wrote the forward for one of Larson's Far Side collections.
Goodall was still working for the benefit of the animals she loved so much when she died today. She was 91.