Sir David pays tribute to hero of conservation

'CHAMPION OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION' DIES, AGED 91

- By STAFF REPORTER

TV PRESENTER Sir David Attenborough has praised conservationist Dame Jane Goodall as a "tireless advocate" for chimpanzees and a "great champion of environmental protection" following her death, aged 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.

Sir David, 99, who grew up in Leicester, was friends with Dame Jane. He said in a statement to the PA news agency: "Jane Goodall was the first to prove that an investigating scientist and a great ape living in the wild could become true friends and in doing so she came to transform our understanding of chimpanzees.

"She was their tireless advocate and a great champion of environmental protection."

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.