Jane Goodall death updates: Tributes pour in for ‘tireless advocate’ who ‘reshaped our understanding of the natural world’

US comedian Ellen DeGeneres said primatologist Dame Jane Goodall “broke barriers for women all over the world”.

The former chat show host shared a video to Instagram of an interview she conducted with Dame Jane, who has died at the age of 91.

In the caption, DeGeneres said: “Thank you Jane for all the good you’ve done. You broke barriers for women all over the world.”

Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy have paid tribute to Dr Jane Goodall as “one of history’s greatest moral voices for animals” who spent “a lifetime devoted to promoting better understanding of animals”.

“Jane Goodall taught us first to understand animals,” said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. “She alerted us that animals are like us in so many ways. Then, in the last third of her life, she taught us to act with conscience toward all animals.”

Tamara Drake, director of research and regulatory policy at the Center for a Humane Economy, said: “Dr. Goodall’s voice was relentless — she knew that progress depends on both science and morality. We carry forward her conviction by advocating for modern, humane testing strategies that spare animals needless suffering and yield better outcomes for people.”

Naturalist and TV presenter Chris Packham paid tribute to Dame Jane Goodall, calling the late conservationist “remarkable” and her work as “revolutionary”.

Speaking to BBC News, Mr Packham said Dame Jane “was up against it” when she began her career.

“It (her work) was revolutionary and she approached it in a very different way at the time,” Mr Packham said.

“Let’s not forget that this was the late 1950s, early 60s. She was a woman in science, and she was a woman in science without an undergraduate degree, so she was up against it as it was.

“She nevertheless immersed herself in that society and that gave her the capacity to identify traits within those animals, to learn their personalities and know them as individuals.”

He added: “She was remarkable, and it spoke of that determination which endured throughout the course of her life, because here, at the age of 91 on a speaking tour, still advocating for life on Earth in her calm, calculated, deliberate way, capturing the ears of everyone from children to politicians, to make sure that we can do everything we can to protect life on Earth in a time of crisis.”

Asked how Dame Jane inspired him, Mr Packham said: “I read Jane Goodall’s books, and I put those people on a pedestal. I worshiped what they did.

“You know, they were enormously inspirational. They were heroes. Frankly, that’s what they were. They were absolute heroes. And to have lost a hero at a time when we need all of them on the front line fighting for the future of life on Earth, it is a tragedy.”

It has emerged that Jane Goodall featured in one of The Far Side’s most controversial cartoons – before leading to a lifelong friendship.

The Far Side was created by cartoonist Gary Larson and has achieved legendary status as an unusual but entertaining comic strip, which found a home in the San Francisco Chronicle from 1980.

But one of its cartoons featuring Goodall, released in 1987, was not warmly received initially, according to Screen Rant. It showed a male and a female chimpanzee sitting on a tree, with the female picking hairs off the male and saying: “Well, well –another blond hair. Conducting a little more ‘research’ with that Jane Goodall tramp?”

The Jane Goodall Institute reportedly drafted a cease and desist letter in response – but Goodall herself loved it, and told the institute to drop the issue. She even reached out to Larson, sparking the beginning of a friendship.

Greenpeace has remembered Dame Jane Goodall as a “tireless advocate” following her death at the age of 91.

In a statement to the PA news agency, the organisation’s co-executive director in the UK, Will McCallum, said: “We’re heartbroken to learn that Dr Jane Goodall has passed away. She was one of the true conservation giants of our time.

“We were lucky enough to host her at the Greenpeace Glastonbury field last year, where she charmed the audience with her vast knowledge of our primate cousins’ lives.

“Not only did her pioneering research transform our understanding of chimpanzees and their habitat, but she became a tireless advocate for the protection of wildlife and forests, inspiring millions to act.

“Dr Goodall’s legacy is not only in science but in the global movement she helped spark to protect nature and give hope for a better world.

“It’s now incumbent upon all of us to honour her legacy by continuing the fight to protect the world’s forests.”

Dame Jane Goodall featured in The Independent’s Climate 100 List this year and last year.

The second edition of the list was released last month in recognition of the people and companies dedicated to finding positive climate solutions.

Read about all the inspirational people solving the planet’s greatest challenges below:

Former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau said he was “heartbroken” to hear of Dame Jane Goodall’s death, saying “her compassion will live on” in future conservation.

In a statement on X, posted alongside a picture of himself and the conservationist planting a tree together, Mr Trudeau said: “Heartbroken to hear of Dr Jane Goodall’s passing. She was a pioneer whose research and advocacy reshaped our understanding of the natural world.

“Her wisdom and compassion will live on in every act of conservation. All of us who were so greatly inspired by her will miss her deeply.”

At the height of the Covid pandemic, The Independent’s senior climate correspondent Louise Boyle spoke with Dr. Jane Goodall, then 86, via phone in the U.K., where she was temporarily grounded from her typical 300-day a year travel schedule.

“I have never been busier in my entire life, except perhaps the last days of trying to get my PhD thesis written,” she said.

You can read her thoughts on the pandemic and how she understood its connection to our treatment of the natural world and wild animals, in the interview below.