Jane Goodall, the world-renowned primatologist and chimpanzee expert, has died of natural causes according to a statement posted to her official Instagram account.She was 91-years-old.Goodall died in Los Angeles where she was as part of a US speaking tour."Dr. Goodall’s discoveries as an ethologist revolutionized science," the Jane Goodall Institute said in a statement. TMZ reported Goodall spoke at The Plaza Hotel in New York City one week ago and she was set to speak at a nearly sold-out event in Los Angeles this upcoming Friday.Goodall started her life-long work with primate when she went on a trip to Kenya to visit a friend in 1957.."She became a preeminent expert on chimpanzees by studying them in the forest at Gombe in Tanzania -- pointing out how similar their personalities were to that of humans," said TMZ."She was the first researcher to publish that primates used tools ... when it was previously believed only humans did so. Goodall says she received tremendous backlash for her views because she gave human characteristics to animals."She founded the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977.President Joe Biden awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in January of this year.Goodall was born April 3, 1934, in London and grew up in the English coastal town of BournemouthIn her 80s, Goodall was still travelling 300 days a year to speak to school children.
