Yes. She is.
It’s a question that pops up on Google more often than you’d think, probably because we’ve associated her name with the 1960s for so long. People see those grainy, beautiful films of a young woman in khaki shorts sitting with chimpanzees in Gombe and assume that era is long gone. But is Jane Goodall still alive in 2026? Absolutely, and she’s arguably busier now than she was when she was trekking through the forests of Tanzania.
At 91 years old, Dr. Goodall hasn't slowed down. Not really. While most people her age are—quite fairly—enjoying a quiet retirement, Jane is still a whirlwind of activity. She’s transitioned from a field researcher into a global advocate, a "messenger of peace" for the UN, and a constant voice for environmental sanity in a world that feels increasingly chaotic.
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Why the confusion exists
We tend to historicize icons. We put them in textbooks and then, subconsciously, we move them into the past tense. Because Jane Goodall changed the very definition of "human" back in the early sixties by observing chimps using tools, our brains stick her in that specific time capsule.
She's alive. She’s well. She’s still traveling, though the pace has shifted slightly from the grueling 300-days-a-year schedule she famously kept for decades. Honestly, the sheer stamina is the most shocking part.
Where is Jane Goodall now and what is she doing?
She isn't crawling through the underbrush of Gombe Stream National Park anymore. Her knees probably wouldn't appreciate that, and frankly, her mission has changed. She realized years ago that to save the chimpanzees, she had to leave the forest and talk to the people who were destroying it—and the people who have the power to protect it.
Her primary focus these days is the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) and her youth program, Roots & Shoots.
Roots & Shoots is massive. It’s in over 60 countries. It’s not just about "nature" in the abstract; it’s about local action. Whether it's kids in South America working on water purity or teenagers in London reducing plastic waste, the goal is the same: agency. Jane’s philosophy is basically that if you don't give young people hope, they become apathetic, and if they become apathetic, we’re all doomed.
She also spends a huge amount of time on "Tact in Conservation." This is a big deal in the scientific community. JGI’s Tacare program (Lake Tanganyika Catchment Reform and Education) flipped the old colonial model of conservation on its head. Instead of Westerners telling locals not to cut down trees, JGI works with villagers to improve their own lives—through health care, education, and micro-loans—so they don't need to encroach on chimp habitats to survive. It’s brilliant because it’s empathetic.
The virtual Jane
The pandemic changed things for her, just like it did for everyone else. Before 2020, she was a nomad. She lived out of a suitcase. When the world shut down, she ended up stuck in her family home in Bournemouth, England.
You might think that would be a break. Nope.
She went digital. She started the Hopecast, a podcast where she talks to everyone from Dave Matthews to Margaret Atwood. She did countless Zoom calls. She realized she could reach more people from her attic in England than she could by flying around the world and burning all that jet fuel. Even now, in 2026, she uses a hybrid model. She still does the big appearances, but she’s mastered the art of being "everywhere" through technology.
Debunking the rumors and staying factually grounded
When you search is Jane Goodall still alive, you sometimes run into those weird "celebrity death hoaxes" that plague the internet. You know the ones. A sketchy Facebook post or a clickbait YouTube thumbnail.
Don't buy into it.
The most recent official updates from the Jane Goodall Institute continue to show her active participation in global summits. In recent years, she has been a vocal proponent of the "Trillion Trees" initiative. She’s also been heavily involved in the ethics of AI and how technology can be used to track deforestation in real-time.
She’s also a vegan, and has been for a long time. She often says she became one after reading Peter Singer's Animal Liberation and looking at the piece of meat on her plate and thinking: this represents fear, pain, and death. That lifestyle choice is something she credits with her longevity and her ability to keep working well into her 90s.
Her legacy is more than just "The Chimp Lady"
Calling her "The Chimp Lady" is kinda reductive. It’s what everyone does, but it misses the point of her later career.
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She’s a philosopher of hope.
That sounds cheesy, I know. But in the scientific world, "hope" is often looked at as a soft, unscientific emotion. Jane argues the opposite. She thinks hope is a survival trait. She’s seen the worst of humanity—war, deforestation, greed—and she’s seen the Gombe chimps engage in what she called a "four-year war." She knows nature isn't all sunshine and rainbows. Yet, she remains stubbornly optimistic.
- The Resilience of Nature: She points to places like the area around Gombe, which was once a barren hillside and is now green again.
- The Human Intellect: She believes our brains, which created these problems, are the only things capable of solving them.
- The Indomitable Human Spirit: She meets people everyday who refuse to give up.
- The Power of Youth: This is her biggest one.
What the future looks like for the Jane Goodall Institute
There’s often a question about what happens when she’s gone. It’s a bit morbid, but it’s a reality the JGI board has to face.
The organization is built to outlast her. They’ve moved away from being a "personality-led" charity to being a data-driven conservation powerhouse. They use satellite imagery (via Google Earth, funnily enough) to monitor chimp habitats. They have a massive database of chimp genealogies that spans over 60 years—the longest continuous study of any animal group in the wild.
Jane has spent the last decade making sure the "Gombe stream" of data continues. It’s the gold standard for primatology. Because she started naming the chimps (David Greybeard, Flo, Frodo) instead of numbering them, she broke the rules of 1960s science. She was told she was being unscientific. Today, her methods are the foundation of how we study animal behavior and personality.
How to actually help her mission
If you're reading this because you care about her work, checking her pulse isn't the only thing to do. The best way to "celebrate" that she’s still with us is to engage with the stuff she’s screaming from the rooftops about.
It’s not just about donating money.
Jane’s whole thing is that every individual makes an impact every single day. What you buy. What you eat. How you treat people. It sounds like a Hallmark card, but when it comes from a woman who stared down alpha-male chimpanzees in the jungle, it carries a bit more weight.
You can look into the JGI's Chimpanzee Guardian program. It helps care for orphaned chimps at the Tchimpounga Sanctuary in the Republic of Congo. These are chimps whose mothers were killed for the bushmeat trade or who were victims of the illegal pet trade.
Final thoughts on her current status
So, to recap: Jane Goodall is very much alive. She’s 91. She’s probably on a plane or a laptop right now.
She remains the world’s most famous scientist for a reason. It’s not just the chimps; it’s the fact that she hasn't given up. In an era where "doomerism" is the default setting for anyone looking at a climate chart, Jane is the outlier. She’s the person reminding us that we’re not just a "blip" on the evolutionary radar—we're a species with a responsibility.
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The next time you see a headline or a search result asking is Jane Goodall still alive, remember that she’s doing more than just surviving. She’s actively shaping how the next generation thinks about the planet.
Actionable steps you can take today
- Check out the Roots & Shoots website. If you have kids or are a teacher, it’s the most direct way to implement her "hope through action" philosophy.
- Audit your consumption. Jane often talks about the "blood" on our products—from palm oil that destroys forests to the minerals in our phones. Look for RSPO-certified palm oil or sustainable tech options.
- Watch "Jane" (2017). If you want to see the footage that made her famous, this documentary by Brett Morgen is the best one. It uses lost National Geographic footage and it's stunning.
- Follow the Jane Goodall Institute on social media. They provide real-time updates on her travels and the status of the Gombe chimps, so you won't have to wonder about her health.
Jane Goodall’s life is a testament to the idea that a single person, armed with nothing but a notebook and some binoculars, can change the way the entire world thinks. She's still here, she's still talking, and she's still waiting for the rest of us to catch up.