Jane Goodall became globally famous for her studies on chimpanzees in Africa, but it was Rusty, "the smartest dog" she ever met in her life, who as a young girl showed her the true nature of the animal kingdom at a time when they were denied almost any emotion: "He taught me that animals have a mind capable of problem-solving, as well as very defined emotions and personalities, which of course was very helpful when I started studying chimpanzees," said the British primatologist. In her last interview with EL MUNDO, a photo of Rusty stood out among the memories she kept on her shelf at her home in Bournemouth, in southern England, where she maintained her habit of taking a daily walk and having a whiskey every night until the end. Always surrounded by her beloved dogs.
The legendary British primatologist passed away from natural causes on Wednesday at the age of 91 in California, where she was participating in a conference tour, as announced by the Jane Goodall Institute on their social media. "Dr. Goodall's discoveries as an ethologist revolutionized science and she was an unwavering advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world," highlighted her colleagues.
The Earth is in mourning because it would not be an exaggeration to say that Jane Goodall has been one of the best friends of our planet, its great protector and defender. She showed us, with patience and kindness, what the great apes were truly like. She taught us to look at them, and in doing so, allowed us to know ourselves a little better.
However, she left with the conviction that her legacy is in good hands because if there was a message she repeatedly emphasized during her recent appearances, it was her trust in the new generations. In fact, in addition to the Jane Goodall Institute, she promoted community programs in Africa and created Roots & Shoots, a global network of young people committed to the planet: "They are my main reason for hope... When I travel around the world, I see people doing things they were told were impossible to do. People are managing to restore natural spaces that had been destroyed," Goodall stated on the island of La Palma last May, during her participation in the science and music festival Starmus.
Any of her appearances turned into a mass event because everyone knew who Jane Goodall was. With her unmistakable ponytail, calm and firm voice, and her inseparable stuffed animal Mr. H, the British scientist was as famous as a rock star. A popularity perhaps only comparable in the world of science to that of her compatriot Stephen Hawking.
It was common to see her surrounded by celebrities. Earlier this year, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States, from then-President Joe Biden, alongside celebrities such as Vogue editor Anna Wintour, U2's Bono, or billionaire George Soros.
"Each of us makes a difference every day, thinking about the consequences of what we buy, what we wear, what we do, how we act, and trying to be more ethical. When billions of people behave this way, a change will occur," she stated in an interview with this newspaper in Madrid in 2016.
Her activist profile, more pronounced in recent years, went far beyond environmental issues such as animal advocacy, her recommendations for more responsible consumption, or her criticisms of factory farms. She persistently called for the resolution of armed conflicts and, as she herself pointed out last May in the Canary Islands, the War in Gaza, the War in Ukraine, or the humanitarian crisis in Sudan were the issues that kept her up at night.
Each of her phrases became a message. Even her stuffed animal Mr. H was not just a plush toy; it had its own story that she liked to tell. Her friend Gary Haun gave it to her in 1996; he had gone blind at the age of 25 but decided that this would not destroy his life. Despite being told he wouldn't make it, he became a good magician, and when he performed shows for children, they didn't realize he was blind until the end. "Gary's message is simple: Don't give up when something bad happens in your life. If you strive, you can overcome most obstacles," she said.
She practiced what she preached. She was born on April 3, 1934, in London, into a middle-class family, and spent the post-war years in the family home in Bournemouth, where she grew up surrounded by animals until finally, at the age of 23, she was able to fulfill her dream of traveling to Africa. She started in Kenya, where she worked with the prestigious anthropologist Louis Leakey. In 1960, she was sent to Gombe National Park in Tanzania with the aim of researching wild chimpanzees in the area for the first time. A risky mission that not only met expectations but revolutionized the understanding of chimpanzee behavior, documenting their social structure, tool use, and ultimately, their culture.
In her Tanzanian adventure, she was accompanied only by her mother, a cook, and a tent. She needed nothing more. Her work method broke the mold of the academic rigidity that was common at the time. She named the chimpanzees instead of identifying them with numbers and observed them with empathy, respect, and closeness. And thus, she became the first person to discover that chimpanzees were capable of making and using tools, something that was previously considered exclusive to humans.
Although she faced criticism and prejudice for her approach to her research and her groundbreaking conclusions, time and her meticulous work spoke for themselves, and her observations and analysis of chimpanzees in the wild for decades were a milestone in the field of primatology.
Her pioneering work in Africa captivated audiences worldwide through National Geographic documentaries. The charismatic primatologist showed how chimpanzee societies were much more similar to ours than we could have imagined, documenting other behaviors and activities such as social structure, foraging, hunting, intergroup warfare, altruism, dominance, cannibalism, parenting, and adoption. And these observations have continued for over six decades, making her work one of the longest-running field studies on animals living in the wild.
The ethologist gained the trust of wild chimpanzees
In 1964, she married the photographer and videographer from National Geographic who had come to document her Gombe research, Baron Hugo van Lawick, with whom she had a son. They divorced in 1974, and the following year, she married Derek Bryceson, a member of the Tanzanian parliament and director of national parks, who passed away from cancer in 1980.
Author of around thirty books and numerous scientific studies, Jane Goodall has been a Doctor of Ethology from the University of Cambridge since 1965. Due to her extensive field experience, she was one of the few people allowed to pursue a doctorate without having previously completed undergraduate studies.
Throughout her career, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by more than 45 universities worldwide and received over 100 international awards, including the Prince of Asturias Award for Scientific and Technical Research in 2003 in Spain, the Legion of Honor of the French Republic, and the title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, among many other distinctions.
But among all the things she was and did, perhaps the one that best encapsulates the work of this legendary researcher was the role that Kofi Annan gave her in 2022 at the United Nations. Jane Goodall was a true messenger of Peace.