(NEXSTAR) – Renowned primatologist Jane Goodall, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 91, had suffered cardiopulmonary arrest, according to a death certificate obtained by TMZ.
Epilepsy was also listed as one of Goodall’s conditions, though it’s not clear if it contributed to her death, according to an image of the death certificate published by the outlet. No autopsy was performed.
Cardiopulmonary arrest, or cardiac arrest, is a sudden loss of heart function that leaves the body’s organs unable to receive oxygenated blood. A cardiac arrest is usually fatal, with only about 1 in 10 people surviving an event that occurs outside of a hospital setting, and about 1 in 4 surviving an event that takes place within a hospital, according to Cleveland Clinic.
Goodall’s death was initially announced by the institute bearing her name on Oct. 1.
“The Jane Goodall Institute has learned this morning, Wednesday, October 1, 2025, that Dr. Jane Goodall DBE, UN Messenger of Peace and Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute has passed away due to natural causes. She was in California as part of her speaking tour in the United States,” the organization posted on Instagram.
“Dr. Goodall’s discoveries as an ethologist revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world,” the post continued.
Her legacy dates back to 1960, when she first traveled to Tanzania at age 26 to study chimpanzees. Through her years of research, she was often depicted crouching in the trees, notebook in hand, watching primates through her binoculars.
Her observations and subsequent magazine and documentary appearances in the 1960s transformed how the world perceived not only humans’ closest living biological relatives but also the emotional and social complexity of all animals, while propelling her into the public consciousness.
″What the chimps have taught me over the years is they’re so like us. They’ve blurred the line between humans and animals,″ she told The Associated Press in 1997.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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