High demand to be part of her only public engagement during her New Zealand visit prompted the university to live-stream the lecture into eight separate theatres.
University communications adviser Simon Ancell said it was "the largest lecture this year, if not ever".
It opened with a Maori welcome, to which Dame Jane responded with a call "from my people", much to the delight of the audience.
She went on to talk about her mother - whom she credits with nurturing her curiosity and love of animals - and those who shaped her ground-breaking research - Mike, Humphrey, Flo, David Greybeard and Goliath.
The "making of a little scientist" came when she wanted to learn how a chicken laid an egg when she was aged about 5 and hid in a hen-house to get the answer.
The "dream" of going to Africa came when she bought a second-hand book about Tarzan when she was 10.
She was 23 when she first went "on an amazing adventure" to the continent where she met anthropologist Dr Louis Leakey, who selected her to start studying chimpanzees in the Gombe Reserve in Tanzania.
"And the adventure continues until this day," she said.
Her work now has an environmental focus, and she is not only helping the Gombe people to restore their ravaged forests in Tanzania, but spends 300 days each year travelling the world promoting sustainable practices and awareness.
