Jane Goodall, the pioneering primatologist and lifelong advocate for wildlife, has died at the age of 91, the Jane Goodall Institute announced Wednesday. She passed away of natural causes while in California as part of a U.S. speaking tour.

News of her death drew immediate and widespread reaction. Leaders, scientists, conservationists, and citizens around the world joined in mourning what many describe as the loss of a “conservation giant.”

Goodall first gained international recognition for her fieldwork among chimpanzees in Tanzania in the 1960s, conducting long-term observations in Gombe Stream National Park. Her groundbreaking discoveries, such as chimpanzees using tools, expressing emotions and forming complex social bonds, challenged entrenched scientific assumptions about the

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