Author: Jane Goodall

A message from Dr. Goodall for World Rhino Day, September 22, 2025

An open letter to the authorities and people in the Faroe Islands and Denmark Whales and dolphins – new knowledge and new compassion We, members of the Jane Goodall Institute’s Cetacean Committee (JGICC), are reaching out to the government and citizens of the Faroe Islands, as well as to all those in positions of influence in the region and Denmark. As summer arrives in the northern hemisphere, we recognize that this marks the beginning of the hunting and killing of pilot whales and other cetaceans in the Faroe Islands. We urge all relevant parties to consider whether the desire to…

I first met cows when I was 5 years old, on a farm belonging to my father’s family. I always loved all animals, and I remember I was so excited to see the cows, and their calves out in a big field, the mothers grazing while their calves played and frolicked. 10 years later, when I was helping on a farm in my school holidays, I learned to milk. This was in the days when the cows were milked in the morning, let out of the barn to graze all day, then came in from the fields to be milked in…

There is one really important message that I want to share on Earth Day 2025: I urge everyone to treat every day of the year as Earth Day. Planet Earth is the only home we shall ever know yet we are relentlessly harming it. We are destroying forests, woodlands, wetlands, peatlands, savannas, prairies and all the other ecosystems I have not mentioned. We are polluting rivers, lakes and oceans. We are emitting greenhouse gasses that are causing temperatures to rise which lead to changing weather patterns with more hurricanes, tycoons, floods, draughts, heatwaves and forest fires that may destroy our homes. We…

Along with millions of others, I mourn the passing of Pope Francis. He was a truly Holy man, despising luxury and with a true concern for the poor and the marginalized. He urged help for refugees fleeing violence and those who were discriminated against. He was critical of the materialism which is so prevalent today, and often spoke out of the dire threat of climate change, much of which is created by greed and unsustainable life styles. Moreover, he practised what he preached. I shall never forget how he refused to stay in the luxurious Apostolic Palace, the residence of previous Popes. He lived…

This is a message to the JGI global family — staff, boards, donors, volunteers and everyone else. A message to wish you a wonderful holiday season, whether it is Christmas, Hanukkah, or any other religious festival — or just a year end celebration of all the amazing things you have all been doing to make this a better world. I am just back from the most exhausting tour ever — including, most recently, six Asian countries in about five weeks. The usual — lectures, meetings, conferences — and getting together with FRIENDS. Exhausting — yes. But productive, successful — also yes. Money raised for…

In response to the arrest of Captain Paul Watson, Dr. Jane Goodall and the members of the Jane Goodall Institute’s Cetacean and Ethics Committees have issued the following statement calling for his immediate release.Dr. Jane Goodall and members of the Jane Goodall Institute’s Cetacean and Ethics Committees urgently call for the Danish government to immediately release Captain Paul Watson and deny requests from the Japanese government to extradite him. We understand that Captain Watson was arrested on charges related to his opposition to a Japanese whaling ship operating in the North Pacific. Dr. Goodall and members of the Jane Goodall…

Upon hearing of the passing of their dear friend Steven Wise, Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, and Koen Margodt, PhD, shared the following heart-felt reflection on a life of hope and impact: We are deeply saddened by the tragic passing away of our dear friend Steven Wise, following a long battle with disease. Steve was a pioneer for the recognition of great apes and other animals as legal persons. He has fought all his life in court to obtain respect for the dignity and autonomy of animals. Steve wanted animals not to be treated as things or property, but as the…

I am a UN Messenger of Peace and it is not easy to think what message I should share this year. Because right now the world is so very far from being peaceful. Yet so many millions of people hate war and dream of living in peace. Mothers protest when their husbands or sons are forced to fight. And weep when they return wounded or in body bags. And the young men who survive are often deeply traumatized by the horrors of war. And there seems to be war or armed conflict all over the place. The Russia/Ukraine war, the continuing conflict between Israel and Palestine, the wars and conflicts in many African countries, the acts of terrorism by religious extremist groups, the oppression of indigenous people and minority groups, the school…

I shall never forget the first time I heard the ‘Songs of the Humpback Whales.’ The haunting sounds made such an impression that even now, as I write, I seem to hear the songs in the air around me. Roger Payne’s fascination for whales began in 1967 when he went to Bermuda to record their voices. And he brought their songs from the ocean and shared them with an amazed world. Up until 1986 commercial whaling was responsible for slaughtering thousands of these magnificent, highly intelligent and long-lived beings who have complex social relationships. The killing not only caused physical…