Dian Fossey By Sophia Montreuil

Dian Fossey was an American primatologist and conservationist. She is known as one of Leakey’s Angels as well as and Birute Galdikas. She is most well known for her study on mountain . Her whole life was about the gorillas.

Dian was born in , on January 16th, 1932. Her parents were Kathrin “Kitty”, a fashion model and George E. Fossey, an insurance agent. She was an only child and her parents split up when she was a little girl. She did not have the best childhood. So, she turned to for love and friendship.

Dian first went to school to be an occupational therapist, but she remembered her love of animals. She saved up all her money and decided to go on an African safari to see all the animals. That is where she met Dr. and he told her about Jane Goodall who studied .

Once she got back to the United States she met Dr. Leakey at a conference. She told him that she wanted to study the mountain gorillas in Africa. Louis leakey asked Dian if she really thought she could do it. Dian said she could do it. So, she went to Africa for six months.

In 1966, she arrived in the Congo and began to study the mountain gorillas. Everything was going swell for a few weeks until the soldiers came with guns and made Dian Fossey leave the Congo. Dian did not want to leave and so she thought of a way to stay studying the gorillas. Her idea was she could go to the other side of the mountain to and study the mountain gorillas there. In the beginning, Dian only had a six-month permit. She wanted to keep studying the gorillas when her six months were up. purchased her photos and articles about the gorillas and helped pay for the research. The government of Rwanda allowed her to continue her research in their country.

When she was in Rwanda, she discovered there was a problem with the poachers. The poachers would cut off the gorilla’s hands and heads and they used their hands as ashtrays. Dian did everything she could to protect the gorillas. And the poachers hated her for this.

Dian continued her study and learned a lot about the gorilla’s behaviours, relationships and how they act just like . Dian became a member of the gorilla family and had a close relationship with the gorillas. Dian had a really close friendship with one of the gorillas in particular. This gorilla’s name was Digit.

The problem with the poachers happened the whole time Dian was in Rwanda and that was eighteen years. The poaches killed a lot of Dian’s gorillas and the poachers ended up killing Digit. Dian continued her fight with the poachers.

In 1985, Dian was found murdered in her cabin on the mountain. No suspects were ever found. But it is believed that it was the poachers. Dian gave her life to the gorillas. And believed in doing the right thing and protecting the gorillas. Dian’s body is buried in the gorilla cemetery at Karisoke Research Station in Rwanda.

Dian’s research taught the world that the gorillas are just like humans and that we should work hard to protect them. That is why I did my passion project on Dian Fossey.