On the same day she was scheduled to speak to California students about her life, legacy, and hopes for the future, the iconic Dr Jane Goodall died at the age of 91.
“The Jane Goodall Institute has learned this morning, Wednesday, October 1, 2025, that Dr Jane Goodall DBE, UN Messenger of Peace and Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, has passed away due to natural causes,” the Jane Goodall Institute said in a statement. “She was in California as part of her speaking tour in the United States. Dr Goodall’s discoveries as an ethologist revolutionised science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world.”
Over the course of her truly baffling career, Jane was considered the foremost expert on chimpanzees. She worked with the primates for over 60 years, championing not only their nonhuman rights but the security of the environment around them.
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News of her passing obviously devastated the world, but for the students who were waiting for her lecture, the news hit particularly hard.
“I cried. I wanted to meet her my whole life. She’s always been a hero to me. I would do lots of presentations on her, and like the whole reason I am who I am is because of her,” one student from California told ABC.
Another said: “We were really gonna meet her, and like she was gonna be there in front of us, so just finding out the news was really sad … we were about to see her like.”
Though they weren’t able to listen to Jane Goodall’s wise words, a pre-recorded message was shown that detailed her hopes and dreams for the future. Grab the tissues.
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Dr Jane Goodall’s final message before she died
Though nothing could compare to Jane herself speaking at the school, a pre-recorded message was shown to pay tribute to her legacy and hopes for the future.
Speaking in the video, she said: “I’ve been working on trying to make this a better world for animals, people, and the environment, flat out, since 1986, and one of my greatest reasons for hope in this battered world is the youth.
“I think bringing together a lot of young people, who are, truly, have leadership material so they can exchange ideas and in some cases boost each other’s morale — cause sometimes it’s really tough, really difficult — so a gathering like this, I think, is a very important way ahead.
Jane Goodall had a remarkable ability to inspire us to connect with the natural wonders of our world, and her groundbreaking work on primates and the importance of conservation opened doors for generations of women in science. Michelle and I are thinking of all those who loved…
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) October 1, 2025
“I think I find it most inspiring when I come to a gathering like this, and the fact that, compared to how I was when I was young, [young people] are so articulate, they’re so passionate, that’s been a real sea change. And I think it’s because people have learned to listen to them, [their] voices, and enabled them to take charge. So, this is a whole different feeling.”
After saying it was inspiring to see so many young people come together under a common goal, she shared one final piece of advice.
She urged: “Think about our ecological footprint. I think the … key thing is to realise that every day on this planet, you make a difference, and if you start thinking about the consequences of the small choices you make — What you buy? Where did it come from? How was it made? Was there child slave labour? Did it help the environment? Would you eat it if it didn’t involve cruelty to animals? — you start thinking like that, and millions of people around the world are thinking like that, then we start to get the kind of world that we cannot be too embarrassed to leave to our children.”
She may be gone, but her stellar legacy will live on forever.
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Featured image credit: Jane Goodall Institute and Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
