PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) — Dr. Jane Goodall, the world-renowned conservationist and primatologist, died Wednesday at age 91 of natural causes. She passed away in California while on a U.S. speaking tour, according to the Jane Goodall Institute.

Goodall, best known for her groundbreaking work with chimpanzees at Gombe National Park in Tanzania, first visited the Oregon Zoo in the 1970s. Her work and presence would go on to leave a lasting mark on the zoo and on the people who met her there.

“The coming of the two worlds here, Jane from the wild and us at the Portland Zoo and she was interacting with one of our orphan chimps at that time,” said Dave Thomas, former lead primate keeper at the Oregon Zoo. He said Goodall became a lifelong mentor to him.

During her visits, Goodall developed a

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