Eugene Cussons, the South African primatologist and director of Chimp Eden, died on May 24, 2026, after a paramotor crash.
He was 46 or 47. Cussons was the managing director of Chimp Eden and served as rescue director of the Jane Goodall Institute in South Africa.
He also hosted Animal Planet’s Escape to Chimp Eden and authored Saving Chimpanzees. Born in South Africa in 1979, he studied business management and economics at the University of Pretoria before moving from corporate software work into wildlife conservation.
Eugene Cussons, 46–47, South African primatologist, director of Chimp Eden, paramotor crash.