Jane Goodall, famous for her study of chimpanzees, has died

Jane Goodall, known for her ground-breaking studies involving chimpanzees, has died aged 91.

A post on her institute's Facebook page said she died on Wednesday morning from natural causes while in California as part of a speaking tour.

"Dr. Goodall's discoveries as an ethologist revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world," said the post.

Goodall was widely considered the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees.

She began her research at 26, observing the primates in east Africa and revealing their capability to engage in complex social behaviours.

Goodall also gave chimps names instead of numbers, observed their distinct personalities, their use of tools, and incorporated family relationships and emotions into her work.

The London-born expert appeared in many National Geographic programmes and magazines, and laid a path for other female primatologists and conservationists, including Dian Fossey (portrayed by Sigourney Weaver in Gorillas In The Mist).

Later in her career, she shifted more towards climate advocacy after seeing animal habitats diminishing and spoke to Sky News about the issue in June.

Goodall was made a dame in 2003 and earlier this year was awarded the US Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Growing up in Bournemouth, she said she always dreamed of working with wild animals and that her passion was stoked by the gift of a toy gorilla from her father and reading books such as Tarzan and Dr Dolittle.

Goodall got her wish in 1957 when she saved enough money for a boat trip to Kenya.

It was there that she met famed anthropologist and palaeontologist Dr Louis Leakey and his wife Mary Leakey, an encounter that set up her career studying primates.

She set up the Gombe Stream chimpanzee reserve in present-day Tanzania, discovering they ate meat, fought fierce wars, and made tools in order to eat termites.

Goodall lived in the jungle for years and married wildlife cameraman and collaborator Hugo van Lawick.