He was died at the age of 91 years old leader and activist Jane Gudol

The primary and activist Jane Goodolwhich turned her childhood passion for wildlife into a life -long life -long life struggle, she died today at the age of 91, the Institute she had founded.

According to the post, Goodol died of natural causes while in California as part of a US tour.

“Dr. Gundol’s discoveries as a ethologist revolutionized science and was a tireless advocate of protecting and restoring the natural world.” reported the Institute.

Starting from a seaside village in England, the capitalist traveled to Africa and then around the world, in an effort to study the chimpanzees and the role that people play in preserving their habitat and planet in general. She was a pioneer in her field, both as a female scientist in the 1960s, and for her work in the study of primates. Engraved the course that would then follow other women, such as Diane Foshey.

She also turned the attention of the general public to the wild, with her collaboration with National Geographic Society, showing the lives of her favorite chimpanzees in films, television documentaries and magazines. He overthrew the scientific rules of the time, giving chimpanzees names instead of numbers, observing their distinct personalities, their family relationships and their emotions. He also discovered that, like people, they use tools.

“We found that, after all, there is no line that separates people from the rest of the animal kingdom”he had stated in 2002.

As her career evolved, she focused more on tackling climate change after observing the destruction of habitats and urged the whole world to take urgent measures. “We forget that we are part of the natural world. There is still a window of opportunity » said to CNN in 2020.

In 2003 she was awarded the Dame of the British Empire and in 2025 she was honored with the US Presidential Medal.

Jane Goodol was born in London in 1934 and grew up in Bournemouth, on the south coast of England. From a young age he dreamed of living with wild animals. She had said that her passion for animals, starting with the plush gorilla donated by her father, was stabbed by the books she read when she was a child, “Tarzan” and “Dr. Dulittle”.

When the school was over, dreams came aside, as he did not have the financial means to study at university. She worked as a secretary and then for a film company, until a friend to visit Kenya brought her jungle and her residents closer to her. He raised money for the trip (by boat) and arrived in Africa in 1957. There, a meeting with the famous anthropologist and paleontologist Louis Liki and his wife, archaeologist Mary Licky, was decisive: it was the beginning of her work with the primates.

With the help of Lucky, Goodol founded the Gobi Strim Himbatzis Park – Subsequent Gobi Research Center – near Lake Tanganika in present -day Tanzania. There he discovered that the chimpanzees ate meat, fought wildly with each other, and most importantly, they were making tools to fish and eat termites.

“Now we have to redefine the tools, redefine man or accept that chimpanzees are people”Lucky said about her discovery.

Although she finally interrupted the research to study at the University of Cambridge, Gudol remained in the jungle for many years. Her first husband and her close associate was the wildlife iconer Hugo Van Lowick.

Through the reports and documentaries of the National Geographic, his chimpanzees Gobi They became familiar faces – especially one that Goodol called “David Grizogen”, from his silver -shaped hair.

Almost thirty years after her arrival in Africa, she said she realized that she could not protect chimpanzees without tackling the problem of disappearing their natural environment. He realized that he had to leave the jungle, the Gobi, and take on a wider role in protecting the environment. In 1977 he founded the Jane Gudol Institute, a non -profit organization that supports Gobi’s investigations, environmental preservation and growth in Africa. The work of the Institute has now expanded around the world.

She started traveling – on average 300 days each year – for meetings with officials around the world and lectures in schools and communities. He continued these tours to the end.

“I am always surprised by this person who travels everywhere and does all these things. This man is me » She had said on a trip to Burundi in 2014, commenting on this change in her life, from the lonely days she observed the chimpanzees.

Goodol also wrote more than 30 books with her research and more than twelve children.

She had stated that she never doubted the planet’s durability and people’s ability to overcome environmental challenges. “Yes, there is hope … It’s in our hands, in your hands, in my hands and in those of our children. It really depends on us » said in 2002 urging people to leave ‘The lightest ecological fingerprints that are possible’.

Goodol had a son, Grab, with Van Lowik, with whom he divorced in 1974. In 1975 he married him Derek Braisesonwho died in 1980.