Photographer Michael Nichols captured Jane Goodall as she studied chimpanzee behavior in the wild in 1990. “We should be kind to animals because it makes better humans of us all,” Goodall once told Mary Smith, the National Geographic photo editor who helped shape her stories for the magazine.

See National Geographic's most iconic Jane Goodall photos

National Geographic helped the famous conservationist get her start—and followed her chimpanzee research and advocacy for wildlife in a career that forever changed how we understand animal behavior.

October 1, 2025

Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, the famous conservationist and ethologist, has died at age 91 after a legendary career illuminating the complex social lives of chimpanzees and advocating for animal and environmental rights. At a time when women were discouraged from careers in science, Goodall became one of the most recognized scientists of her time after receiving support from the National Geographic Society to study chimpanzees in 1961.

Her groundbreaking research unveiled many social and emotional connections between humans and apes. While living among chimpanzees at Gombe Stream Game Reserve in Tanzania, she observed nurturing mothers, bullying alpha males, and gestures of friendship as well as violence. She was the first person to observe chimpanzees using sticks as tools. In later years she turned her fieldwork over to colleagues to focus on her missions of sustainability and kindness to animals. The nonprofit she formed, Roots & Shoots, had the goal of stopping environmental destruction. She won numerous prestigious awards throughout her career. Her legacy will endure in the way we view ourselves in relation to animals.

woman sitting in canoe on river with man standing paddling in background
Nichols produced an ethereal portrait of Goodall as she traveled by canoe to visit an isolated group of chimps in the Republic of Congo's Goualougo Triangle. In the 1990's, Goodall managed to persuade Conoco Oil to build a rehabilitation center for orphaned primates in the country.
Photograph by Michael Nichols
black and white image of women and men sitting around a campfire
Trackers in the Goualougo Triangle demonstrate how chimps hunt for termites.
Photograph by Michael Nichols
woman holding camera with chimp toucher the back of her hair
Goodall with the chimpanzee Freud in Tanzania National Parks. When Goodall first witnessed a chimpanzee using a twig to fish for termites, she sent an excited cable to her mentor Louis Leakey. He responded: “NOW WE MUST REDEFINE TOOL STOP REDEFINE MAN STOP OR ACCEPT CHIMPANZEES AS HUMAN.”  
Photograph by Derek Bryceson
Jane Goodall, with binoculars in hand, observed chimpanzees in the Tanzania forest. Goodall's work was first popularized in Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees, a film produced by National Geographic and broadcast in 1965. An estimated 25 million viewers in North America watched the show.
Photograph by Hugo Van Lawick
cover of magazine
Goodall was featured on the cover of National Geographic several times throughout her career, including for the December 1965 and December 1995 magazines.
woman holding a stuck with chimp holding other end
Jou Jou, a full-grown male chimpanzee, interacts with Goodall from his cage in the Brazzaville Zoo in the Republic of Congo. Jou Jou, a social animal, had been caged alone for years and was desperate for contact with other living beings.
Photograph by Michael Nichols
Goodall is whacked playfully on the head by the chimpanzee Mary (named after Jane's longtime editor at National Geographic, Mary Smith) in the Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania.
Photograph by Michael Nichols
"The chimpanzee imprisoned behind bars is bad tempered in maturity, morose, moody, and frequently rather obscene," Goodall wrote for National Geographic in 1963. "In his freedom he is majestic even when excited and, for the most part, dignified and good natured.
Photograph by Michael Nichols
chimp and woman under a tent
National Geographic sent photographer Hugo Van Lawick to capture Goodall's work at the Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania. The pair ended up falling in love and getting married; there was a clay model of a chimpanzee on their wedding cake.
woman head bowed with chimp handing touching forehead
The touch—an exquisite moment for Goodall—came when Jou Jou, a full-grown male chimpanzee, reached out his hand to her in greeting. He had been caged alone for years in the Brazzaville Zoo in the Republic of Congo.
Photograph by Michael Nichols
In memory of Jane’s amazing life and contribution to our understanding of the natural world, National Geographic will screen the feature documentary "Jane" in the U.S. on Sunday October 5 at 8 e/c. This will be followed by “Jane: The Hope” at 10 e/c.
 
Directed by Brett Morgen with music by composer Philip Glass, the feature documentary "Jane" uses never before seen footage to tell Goodall’s life story. Stream the film now on Disney+.