Jane Goodall was one of my earliest role models, and now she is gone.
The Jane Goodall Institute announced the primatologist’s death Wednesday in an Instagram post. According to the institute, Goodall died of natural causes while in California on a U.S. speaking tour.
Her discoveries “revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world,” the Institute said.
While living among chimpanzees in Africa decades ago, Goodall documented the animals using tools and doing other activities previously believed to be exclusive to humans, and also noted their distinct personalities. Her observations and subsequent magazine and documentary appearances in the 1960s transformed how the world perceived not only humans’ closest living biological relatives but also the emotional and social complexity of all animals, while propelling her into the public consciousness.
Yeah, the 1960s…that’s when I was soaking in National Geographic and the pop-sci magazines, and that’s where I learned about her.
Reminds me of the controversy when Gary Larson published the Far Side cartoon where one chimp finds a blonde hair on (presumably her chimp-husband) and asks angrily if he’s been doing “more ‘research’ with that Goodall tramp?”.
There was an outcry from Goodall fans and even an angry letter from her foundation, but it turned out that she found the whole thing funny and said “”I thought it was very funny. And I think if you make a Gary Larson cartoon, boy you’ve made it,”
She was a passionate and dedicated scientist, and seems like she’d have been a hell of a fun person to know. RIP Dr. Goodall.
She was exceptional. In Attenborough’s category.
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“According to the institute, Goodall died of natural causes while in California on a U.S. speaking tour.”
At age 91! I am impressed.