Oscar-winning actor and environmental campaigner Leonardo DiCaprio has led tributes to his “dear friend” and personal “hero”, Dame Jane Goodall, following her death at the age of 91.
The conservationist, who was the world’s leading expert on chimpanzee behaviour, died from “natural causes” in California, The Jane Goodall Institute said in a statement on Wednesday.
Tributes have since poured in for the ethologist, who began researching free-living chimpanzees in Tanzania in 1960, a time when it was unheard of for a woman to venture into the wilds of Africa.
Hollywood actor DiCaprio, said “we all must carry the torch” for Dame Jane” and protect “our one shared home”, in a post to Instagram on Wednesday.
The Titanic star, 50, shared photos of him and Dame Jane who was made a UN Messenger of Peace in 2002, 12 years before DiCaprio was also given the honorific title.
“Today we have lost a true hero for the planet, an inspiration to millions, and a dear friend,” DiCaprio said.
“Jane Goodall devoted her life to protecting our planet and giving a voice to the wild animals and the ecosystems they inhabit.
“Her ground-breaking research on chimpanzees in Tanzania transformed our understanding of how our closest relatives live, socialise and think — reminding us that we are deeply connected not only to chimpanzees and the other great apes, but to all life.
“For decades, Jane travelled the world with tireless energy, awakening generations to the wonder of the natural world.
“She spoke directly to the next generation, instilling hope, responsibility and the belief that every individual can make a difference. She inspired millions to care, to act, and to hope. She never stopped.
“My deepest condolences to her family. Please join me in honouring her legacy by supporting @janegoodallinst and other conservation groups which she cared about.
“My last message to Jane was simple: ‘You are my hero’. Now, we all must carry the torch for her in protecting our one shared home.”
US comedian Ellen DeGeneres thanked Dame Jane in the caption of an Instagram post where she said the conservationist “broke barriers for women all over the world”.
Accompanying the comedian’s message was a video of her interviewing Dame Jane, who said it was uncommon for women to be scientists when she started her career, aged 26.
She also said that “everyone laughed” at her dream, except for her mother who said: “If you really want this you have to work really hard, take advantage of all opportunities, but don’t give up.”
Naturalist and TV presenter Chris Packham lauded the conservationist’s work as “revolutionary” and said Dame Jane “was up against it” when she began her career.
“It (her work) was revolutionary and she approached it in a very different way at the time,” he told BBC News.
“Let’s not forget that this was the late 1950s, early ’60s. She was a woman in science, and she was a woman in science without an undergraduate degree, so she was up against it as it was.
“She nevertheless immersed herself in that society and that gave her the capacity to identify traits within those animals, to learn their personalities and know them as individuals.”
He added: “She was remarkable, and it spoke of that determination which endured throughout the course of her life, because here, at the age of 91 on a speaking tour, still advocating for life on Earth in her calm, calculated, deliberate way, capturing the ears of everyone from children to politicians, to make sure that we can do everything we can to protect life on Earth in a time of crisis.”
Packham continued: “To have lost a hero at a time when we need all of them on the front line fighting for the future of life on Earth, it is a tragedy.”
Also paying tribute was former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, who said he was “heartbroken” to hear of Dame Jane’s death, saying “her compassion will live on” in future conservation.
Elsewhere, jailed Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes said in an X post that Dame Jane had “inspired so many women”, including herself, “to push the boundaries of what we were allowed to do”.
Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson said Dame Jane “was a passionate champion of our beautiful planet and an amazing human being” in a social media post where he revealed he had seen her at an event in New York last week.
In the wake of her death, animal rights group Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) announced it would plant a monkey puzzle tree in the memorial garden at its headquarters in her honour.
Founder Ingrid Newkirk paid tribute to the primatologist and said she “forever changed the way we view our fellow animals”.
In another tribute, Greenpeace’s co-executive director in the UK, Will McCallum, said Dame Jane “was one of the true conservation giants of our time”.
