On Oct. 1, local time, the Jane Goodall Institute announced on social media that Dr. Jane Goodall, UN Messenger of Peace and founder of the Jane Goodall Institute, passed away from natural causes at the age of 91. At the time, she was in California conducting a US lecture tour.
Dr. Jane Goodall devoted her life to studying wild chimpanzees and was the first scientist to observe chimpanzee behavior resembling that of humans in Tanzania.
Born in 1934 in the UK, Jane Goodall demonstrated an early passion for observing animals. Her favorite books as a child were Doctor Dolittle and Tarzan of the Apes, which inspired her dream of traveling to Africa to see animals in their natural habitat. After graduating from secondary school, financial constraints prevented her from pursuing further studies. However, an invitation from a friend in Kenya motivated her to embark on a solo journey to Africa.
In 1960, at the age of 26, Jane arrived at Gombe National Park in Tanzania, where she began her groundbreaking research on wild chimpanzees.
Jane described herself as a "white ape" who had wandered into the chimpanzees' world. The first chimpanzee to accept her was "David Greybeard," a male with a tuft of white hair on his chin, a name Jane gave him. It was through her observations of David modifying twigs to extract termites from their mounds that Jane became the first to reveal that chimpanzees had the ability to make and use tools. At the time, only humans were defined as "toolmakers." Over 60 years ago, this discovery challenged the idea of human uniqueness and caused a sensation in the scientific community.
Jane was a person racing against time, and against the accelerating deterioration of the natural environment. In 1986, during a symposium, she became deeply concerned about the rapid deforestation and the dramatic decline in chimpanzee populations. Realizing she had to leave her beloved forest to take action, she dedicated herself to protecting chimpanzees and preventing them from harm and extinction.
She kept conducting research and conservation work in Africa and sharing her message of environmental and wildlife protection across the globe. "I was traveling 300 days a year around the world," she said.
In November of last year, Jane Goodall visited China for the 17th time, embarking on a five-day "Tour of Hope." During her trip, she participated in an exclusive video interview with CCTV News, where she said: "What I can do is ensure that the next generation will take better care of this planet than we have."
(Source: CCTV News)
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