Jane Goodall Described Fond Memory of Spending Her Birthday with 90 Dogs Months Before Her Death

Dr. Jane Goodall described a fond memory of spending her milestone 90th birthday with 90 dogs in one of her final interviews in the months before her death.

Goodall died on Wednesday, Oct. 1. She was 91. According to a statement from her eponymous institute, she died in Los Angeles of natural causes while on a speaking tour.

In an appearance on Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast in May, the world-renowned conservationist and animal welfare advocate, who was seen as the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees after spending decades studying them in the wild in Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park, detailed a personal experience – spending her birthday with 90 dogs.

When Cooper, 31, asked Goodall about how she celebrated her 90th birthday, she replied, “That again was celebrated the whole year. The only thing I really liked was when I was greeted on the beach by 90 dogs.”

“90 dogs? Who facilitated that?” Cooper asked.

Goodall recalled, “It was in Carmel-by-the-Sea. It was an off-leash part of the beach, and everybody brought their dogs, so I was throwing sticks in the sea, and then it began to rain. Then it stopped raining, and it was just amazing.”

Cooper jumped in, “I believe maybe that’s a part of what heaven feels like, is just you open your eyes and there’s just dogs everywhere happy running free.” Goodall agreed and replied, “We’ve got a great photo of all the owners with their dogs and me sitting in front with the sea behind us. It’s a great photo.”

The Wildlife Conservation Network organized the 90-Dog Salute in honor of Goodall’s birthday on March 23, 2024, according to the Leakey Foundation.

In 2024, Goodall opened up to PEOPLE about her 90th birthday plans. “People like Leo DiCaprio are coming to one birthday [event], and Dave Matthews is playing at another,” she exclusively told PEOPLE at the time. “I can’t keep up with all these people in all these places, and I’m not even trying.”

In 2024, she was traveling about 300 days a year, sharing her passion for chimpanzees and environmental issues. She added that she planned to “continue to spread her message of hope through action” in various parts of the world.

“Everybody wants to visit me on my 90th birthday,” Goodall told PEOPLE. “I’ve been literally traveling nonstop since January the 12th. I’ve had five days at home in England, and the rest has been from place to place to place to place.”

The conservationist leaves behind her son, Hugo, and three grandchildren Angel, Merlin and Nick.

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“Dr. Goodall’s discoveries as an ethologist revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world,” her institute said Wednesday.

In a lengthy tribute, the institute added that her “life and work not only made an indelible mark on our understanding of chimpanzees and other species, but also of humankind and the environments we all share. She inspired curiosity, hope and compassion in countless people around the world, and paved the way for many others.”