||boek: Gorilla's in de mist|13j lang vertoefde een Amerikaanse antropologe te midden vd berggorillas|Veen

||door: Dian Fossey

||taal: nl
||jaar: 1989
||druk: 2e druk
||pag.: 312p
||opm.: paperback|zo goed als nieuw|p1 aantekeningen

||isbn: 90-204-1857-2
||code: 1:000307

--- Over het boek (foto 1): Gorilla's in de mist ---

Dr. Dian Fossey, the world authority on the endangered mountain gorilla, combines her riveting personal adventure story with fascinating scientific reporting in this landmark book on the greatest of the great apes. Gorillas in the Mist documents one of the longest field studies of primates, as it covers fifteen years, four gorilla families and three generations in the remote rain forests of the volcanic Virunga Mountains shared by Zaire, Rwanda and Uganda. One of our closest primate relatives, gorillas form tight kinship bonds, which can sustain these close knit families for generations. These shy, gentile vegetarians (who occasionally eat grubs for protein) live in a group headed by a dominant male, called a silver-back, and roam a rugged age-old environment between 9,000 feet and 13,000 feet above sea level. Working alone from a base camp 10,000 feet above sea level, Diane Fossey struggled with acrophobia on 45-degree slopes, torrential rains, hail and fog, foot-deep mud, poachers, gorilla slaughters, witchcraft and revolution. Gaining gorilla acceptance of her presence took years of acting submissively while she imitated feeding and contentment sounds. Dian Fossey made history when a male gorilla reached out to touch her. Fossey's enthralling account of four family groups contains some extra-ordinary characters: little elf-eared Icarus, who in fifteen years becomes a powerful silverback ready to inherit his natal family's leadership; his 350-pound father, Beethoven, who is as forceful in controlling his family during interactions with neighboring groups as he is gentle in grooming his tiny offspring; Coco and Pucker, tragically orphaned babies who taught the author much about gorilla life and people's attitudes towards conservation; Old Goat, the dominant female who helped the family survive the traumatic adjustment to a new leader; Uncle Bert, the young silverback who learned how to keep his group together and handle responsibilities of leadership and Digit the young male whose lack of peers attracted him to human observers and who became the author's special friend. In 1977 the slaughter of Digit by poachers brought the mountain gorilla's plight to international prominence and Diane Fossey into the limelight as she worked to insure a future for the rain forest and the few hundred gorillas that remained within it. In Gorillas in the Mist, Dr. Fossey confronts head on the complexities of effective conservation of a delicate system on which people depend as much as do wildlife for survival. Scientific appendixes address such topics as census findings, gorilla food types, common vocalizations, autopsies and parasitology reports. The bibliography on the species in the most extensive in print.

[source: https--www.bol.com]

One of the most important books ever written about our connection to the natural world, Gorillas in the Mist is the riveting account of Dian Fossey's thirteen years in a remote African rain forest with the greatest of the great apes. Fossey's extraordinary efforts to ensure the future of the rain forest and its remaining mountain gorillas are captured in her own words and in candid photographs of this fascinating endangered species. As only she could, Fossey combined her personal adventure story with groundbreaking scientific reporting in an unforgettable portrait of one of our closest primate relatives. Although Fossey's work ended tragically in her murder, Gorillas in the Mist remains an invaluable testament to one of the longest-running field studies of primates and reveals her undying passion for her subject.

[source: https--www.goodreads.com]

Illegale kap bedreigt laatste berggorilla's

De afgelopen maanden is een deel van het natuurpark van de beroemde berggorilla's in de Democratische Republiek Congo ontbost. Het overleven van de dieren, waarvan er in heel de wereld nog maar 700 overblijven, is hiermee opnieuw heel acuut in gevaar, zeggen diverse natuurorganisaties waaronder het WWF.

In mei en juni van dit jaar zijn volgens de milieuorganisaties zo'n 6000 mensen - vooral Rwandezen - illegaal in het Virunga Nationaal Park op de grens met Rwanda en Uganda gaan wonen. Met de steun van lokale machthebbers zouden ze er zo'n tien vierkante kilometer hebben gekapt om er aan landbouw te doen. Intussen lijkt de kap gestopt en heeft een deel van de mensen het park weer verlaten, maar als er geen duidelijke orders komen van het hoogste regeringsniveau in Rwanda en de DRC, zal de vernietiging herbeginnen en grotere gebieden treffen, waarschuwt Peter Stephenson van het WWF.

Het Congolese reservaat herbergt meer dan de helft van de nog levende berggorilla's. De diersoort werd beroemd door het onderzoek van Diane Fossey dat door Hollywood werd verfilmd als 'Gorilla's in de Mist'. Berggorilla's zijn een van de meest bedreigde diersoorten op aarde. Milieuorganisaties noemen de recente ontbossing een ramp, omdat het gedeelte van het park waarin de dieren wonen niet meer dan 260 vierkante kilometer bestrijkt. Ze vragen internationale hulp om parkwachters te betalen, de illegale landbouwers op een menslievende manier te verhuizen en het vernielde gebied te herstellen. Vorige maand werden nog drie parkwachters vermoord.

Er staat meer op het spel dan de berggorilla alleen. Het reservaat is erkend als Werelderfgoed en wordt beschouwd als een van de belangrijkste natuurgebieden in Afrika. Er leven meer dan 700 soorten vogels en 200 soorten zoogdieren, waaronder de ook al uiterst zeldzame stompneusaap. De illegale houtkap bedreigt ook de lokale gemeenschappen, onder meer omdat vele inwoners een centje verdienen aan de toeristen die de gorilla's willen zien en de drie Afrikaanse landen jaarlijks zo'n 1,6 miljoen euro in het laatje brengen.

Eerder al had het habitat van de gorilla's erg te lijden onder de conflicten in Congo en Rwanda. Vluchtelingen van de Rwandese genocide van 1994 zochten hun toevlucht in grote kampen aan de rand van het park, en ook de Congolese burgeroorlog van 1997 tot 2002 bracht strijdende partijen, illegale landbouwers en vluchtelingen in het gebied. Rebellen gebruikten het reservaat als schuilplaats. Momenteel is meer dan de helft van de grensgebieden van het reservaat dichtbevolkt.

Eerder dit jaar juichten parkwachters en natuurbeschermers nog, toen bleek dat de populatie berggorilla's in Virunga Park met 17 procent was toegenomen, tot een totaal van 380 dieren.

Ann De Ron [bron: https--www.mo.be/artikel/illegale-kap-bedreigt-laatste-berggorillas]

--- Over (foto 2): Dian Fossey ---

Dian Fossey (San Francisco, 16 januari 1932 - Volcanoes National Park (Rwanda), 26 december 1985) was een Amerikaanse etholoog en mammaloog die jarenlang gorillagroepen observeerde in de bergwouden van Rwanda. Haar werk is te vergelijken met dat van Jane Goodall met chimpansees. Bij het grote publiek werd Fossey bekend door de postume verfilming van haar boek Gorillas in the Mist.

Fossey werd geboren in San Francisco. In 1954 haalde ze een graad als ergotherapeut aan San Jose State College (tegenwoordig San Jose State University). Ze verhuisde naar Kentucky, waar ze in een ziekenhuis ging werken. In 1957 begon ze te denken over een reis naar Afrika. In 1963 had ze de financiële middelen bij elkaar. In Afrika zag ze haar eerste berggorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei).

Nadat Fossey in 1966 de paleontoloog Louis Leakey had ontmoet op een congres in de Verenigde Staten, richtte ze met zijn hulp in 1967 in Rwanda het Karisoke Research Center op. In opdracht van de National Geographic Society voerde ze een langdurige observatie van gorilla's uit. Dankzij haar geduld en uithoudingsvermogen werd ze ten slotte door de gorilla's geaccepteerd. Ze slaagde erin op film vast te leggen hoe de gorilla's haar aanraakten en met haar communiceerden. Door dagenlange observaties verkreeg Fossey nieuwe inzichten in de onderlinge verhoudingen en communicatiestructuren van gorilla's.

De plaatsing van het gorillaonderzoek in Rwanda vloeide voort uit haar ontsnapping in 1967 uit Congo. Daar deed Fossey eerder haar gorillaonderzoek in het gebied van het nadien opgerichte nationaal park Kahuzi-Biéga, maar in het destijds politiek roerige Congo kwam ze twee weken gevangen te zitten onder Congolese soldaten, die haar mogelijk mishandelden. Vrijwel onmiddellijk na haar ontsnapping verplaatste ze haar onderzoek naar buurland Rwanda. Ze joeg daar een extreem wereld- en onderzoeksbeeld na. De bijna hermetisch met gorilla's levende Fossey begon obsessief de gorilla's tegen iedereen te beschermen. Ze hield onder meer Rwandese bewoners voor dat ze zwarte magie op hen toepaste, vernielde de strikken van de lokale bewoners, ontvoerde een aantal inwoners, sloeg ze en gebruikte traangas. In diezelfde tijd waren stropers actief in het gebied.

In vakkringen was Fossey bekend door haar documentaires en haar artikelen in het tijdschrift National Geographic. In 1974 promoveerde ze aan de Universiteit van Cambridge tot doctor in de zoölogie. Maar hoewel Fossey in haar carrière grote successen behaalde, was haar privéleven een tragedie. Ze liet zich steeds weer met getrouwde mannen in, die haar vervolgens weer in de steek lieten. Fossey leed onder haar eenzaamheid en had waarschijnlijk last van zware depressies. Ze hield zich op de been met alcohol en kalmeringsmiddelen.

Fossey werd in 1985 met ingeslagen schedel aangetroffen in haar hut in de Rwandese provincie Ruhengeri. Er zijn aanwijzingen dat haar moord was gepland door Protais Zigiranyirazo, de gouverneur van Ruhengeri, die later bekend werd door het opzetten van de doodseskaders die verantwoordelijk waren voor de dood van 800.000 Rwandezen in 1994.

Haar memoires getiteld Gorillas in the Mist (1983, Nederlandse vertaling Gorillas in de mist) werden in 1988 verfilmd door de Britse regisseur Michael Apted onder de titel Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey, met Sigourney Weaver als Fossey. De film is gebaseerd op Fosseys leven en werk in Afrika en behelst vooral een aanklacht tegen de stroperij. De geschreven memoires gaan echter gedetailleerder in op haar wetenschappelijke werk, met name haar observaties van de onderlinge verhoudingen en de gedragingen in de door haar gevolgde gorilla-families en het parasitologisch onderzoek. Een deel van de gebeurtenissen uit haar persoonlijke leven is eruit weggelaten, met name de verhouding die ze had met fotograaf Bob Campbell, die juist een belangrijk onderdeel van de plot van de film vormt.

Publicatie

• Gorilla's in de mist (1983) ISBN 90-204-3721-6

[bron: wikipedia]

Dian Fossey was born in San Francisco, Calif., in 1932. Her parents divorced when she was young, so Dian grew up with her mother and stepfather. By all accounts, she was an excellent student and was extremely interested in animals from a very young age. At age 6, she began horseback riding lessons and in high school earned a letter on the riding team.

When Dian enrolled in college courses at Marin Junior College, she chose to focus on business, following the encouragement of her stepfather, a wealthy businessman. She worked while in school, and at age 19, on the summer break following her freshman year of college, she went to work on a ranch in Montana. At the ranch, she fell in love with and developed an attachment to the animals, but she was forced to leave early when she contracted chicken pox.

Even so, the experience convinced Dian to follow her heart and return to school as a pre-veterinary student at the University of California. She found some of the chemistry and physics courses quite challenging, and ultimately, she turned her focus to a degree in occupational therapy at San Jose State College, from which she graduated in 1954.

1948Following graduation, Dian interned at various hospitals in California, working with tuberculosis patients. After less than a year she moved to Louisville, Ky., where she was hired as director of the occupational therapy department at Kosair Crippled Children Hospital. She enjoyed working with the people of Kentucky and lived outside the city limits in a cottage on a farm where the owners encouraged her to help work with the animals.

Dian enjoyed her experience on the farm, but she dreamed of seeing more of the world and its abundant wildlife. A friend traveled to Africa and brought home pictures and stories of her exciting vacation. Once Dian saw the photos and heard the stories, she decided that she must travel there herself.

She spent many years longing to visit Africa and realized that if her dream were to be realized, she would have to take matters into her own hands. Therefore, in 1963, Dian took out a bank loan and began planning her first trip to Africa. She hired a driver by mail and prepared to set off to the land of her dreams.

Dian Fossey Tours Africa (1963)

It took Dian Fossey's entire life savings, in addition a bank loan, to make her dream a reality. In September 1963, she arrived in Kenya. Her trip included visits to Kenya, Tanzania (then Tanganyika), Congo (then Zaire), and Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia). John Alexander, a British hunter, served as her guide. The route he planned included Tsavo, Africa's largest national park; the saline lake of Manyara, famous for attracting giant flocks of flamingos; and the Ngorongoro Crater, well-known for its abundant wildlife.

The final two sites on her tour were Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania - the archaeological site of Louis and Mary Leakey - and Mt. Mikeno in Congo, where in 1959 American zoologist Dr. George Schaller carried out a pioneering study of the mountain gorilla. Schaller was the first person to conduct a reliable field study of the mountain gorillas, and his efforts paved the way for the research that would become Dian Fossey's life work.

A Turning Point: Dian Fossey Visits Dr. Louis Leakey

"I believe it was at this time the seed was planted in my head, even if unconsciously, that I would someday return to Africa to study the gorillas of the mountains." - "Gorillas in the Mist"

Visiting with Dr. Louis Leakey at Olduvai Gorge was an experience that Dian would later point to as a pivotal moment in her life. During their visit, Leakey talked to Dian about Jane Goodall's work with chimpanzees in Tanzania, which at the time was only in its third year. He also shared with her his belief in the importance of long-term field studies with the great apes.

Leakey gave Dian permission to have a look around some newly excavated sites while she was at Olduvai. Unfortunately, in her excitement, she slipped down a steep slope, fell onto a recently excavated dig and broke her ankle. The impending climb that would take Dian to the mountain gorillas was at risk, but she would not be discouraged so easily. By her own account, after her fall, she was more resolved than ever to get to the gorillas.

Dian Fossey's First Encounter with Gorillas

On Oct. 16, Dian visited the Travellers Rest, a small hotel in Uganda, close to the Virunga Mountains and their mountain gorillas. The hotel was owned by Walter Baumgartel, an advocate for gorilla conservation and among the first to see the benefits that tourism could bring to the area.

Baumgartel recommended that Dian meet with Joan and Alan Root, wildlife photographers from Kenya, who were collecting footage of the mountain gorillas for a photographic documentary. The Roots allowed Dian to camp behind their cabin and, after a few days, took her into the forest to search for gorillas. When they did come upon a group of gorillas and Dian was able to observe and photograph them, she developed a firm resolve to come back and study these beautiful creatures, As she describes in "Gorillas in the Mist":

"It was their individuality combined with the shyness of their behavior that remained the most captivating impression of this first encounter with the greatest of the great apes. I left Kabara with reluctance but with never a doubt that I would, somehow, return to learn more about the gorillas of the misted mountains."

Following her visit to the Virungas, Dian remained in Africa a while longer, staying with friends in Rhodesia. Upon arriving home in Kentucky, she resumed her work at Kosair Children's Hospital, in order to repay the loan she had taken out for her trip to Africa - all the while dreaming of the day she would return.

As Dian Fossey continued her work in Kentucky at Kosair Children's Hospital, she also found time to publish a number of articles and photographs from her Africa trip. These would serve her well in the spring of 1966, when a lecture tour brought Dr. Louis Leakey to Louisville. Dian joined the crowd and waited in line to speak with Leakey. When her turn came, she showed him some of the published articles.

This got his attention and during the conversation that followed, Leakey spoke to Dian about heading a long-term field project to study the gorillas in Africa. Leakey informed Dian that if she were to follow through, she would first have to have her appendix removed. Perhaps it was a sign of her strong will that she proceeded to do exactly that, only to later hear from Leakey that his suggestion was mainly his way of gauging her determination!

It was eight months before Leakey was able to secure the funding for the study. Dian used that time to finish paying off her initial trip to Africa and to study. She focused on a "Teach Yourself Swahili" grammar book and George Schaller's books about his own field studies with the mountain gorillas. Saying goodbye to family, friends, and her beloved dogs proved difficult:

"There was no way that I could explain to dogs, friends, or parents my compelling need to return to Africa to launch a long-term study of the gorillas. Some may call it destiny and others may call it dismaying. I call the sudden turn of events in my life fortuitous." - "Gorillas in the Mist"

Jane Goodall, Birute GaldikasIn December 1966, Dian was again on her way to Africa. She arrived in Nairobi, and with the help of Joan Root, she acquired the necessary provisions. She set off for the Congo in an old canvas-topped Land Rover named "Lily," that Dr. Leakey had purchased for her. On the way, Dian made a stop to visit the Gombe Stream Research Centre to meet Jane Goodall and observe her research methods with chimpanzees.

Alan Root accompanied Dian Fossey from Kenya to the Congo and was instrumental in helping her obtain the permits she needed to work in the Virungas. He helped her recruit two African men who would stay and work with her at camp, as well as porters to carry her belongings and gear to the Kabara meadow. Root also helped her set up camp and gave her a brief introduction to gorilla tracking. It was only when he left, and after two days at Kabara that Dian realized just how alone she was. Soon, however, tracking the mountain gorillas would become her single focus, to the exclusion even of simple camp chores.

On her first day of trekking, after only a 10-minute walk, Dian was rewarded with the sight of a lone male gorilla sunning himself. The startled gorilla retreated into the vegetation as she approached, but Dian was encouraged by the encounter. Shortly thereafter, Senwekwe, an experienced gorilla tracker, who had worked with Joan and Alan Root in 1963, joined Dian, and the prospects for more sightings improved.

Slowly, Dian settled into life at Kabara. Space was limited; her 7-by-10-foot tent served as bedroom, bath, office and clothes-drying area (an effort that often seemed futile in the wet climate of the rainforest). Meals were prepared in a run-down wooden building and rarely included local fruits and vegetables, other than potatoes. Dian's mainstay was tinned food and potatoes cooked in every way imaginable. Once a month, she would hike down the mountain to her Land Rover, "Lily," and make the two-hour drive to the village of Kikumba to restock the pantry.

Senwekwe proved invaluable as a tracker and taught Dian much of what she came to know about tracking. With his help and considerable patience, she eventually identified three gorilla groups in her area of study along the slopes of Mt. Mikeno.

"The Kabara groups taught me much regarding gorilla behavior. From them I learned to accept the animals on their own terms and never to push them beyond the varying levels of tolerance they were willing to give. Any observer is an intruder in the domain of a wild animal and must remember that the rights of that animal supersede human interests." - "Gorillas in the Mist"

Initially, the gorillas would flee into the vegetation as soon as Dian approached. Observing them openly and from a distance, over time, she gained their acceptance. She put the gorillas at ease by imitating regular activities like scratching and feeding, and copying their contentment vocalizations.

Through her observations, she began to identify the individuals that made up each group. Like George Schaller before her, Dian relied heavily on the gorillas' individual "noseprints" for purposes of identification. She sketched the gorillas and their noseprints from a distance and slowly came to recognize individuals within the three distinct groups in her study area. She learned much from their behavior and kept detailed records of their daily encounters.

Escape from Zaire

Dian Fossey worked tirelessly, every day carrying a pack weighing nearly 20 pounds (some days nearly double that) until the day she was driven from camp by the worsening political situation in Congo. On July 9, 1967, she and Senwekwe returned to camp to find armed soldiers waiting for them. There was a rebellion in the Kivu Province of Zaire and the soldiers had come to "escort" her down the mountain to safety.

She spent two weeks in Rumangabo under military guard until, on July 26, she was able to orchestrate her escape. She offered the guards cash if they would simply take her to Kisoro, Uganda, to register "Lily" properly and then bring her back. The guards could not resist and agreed to provide an escort. Once in Kisoro, Dian went straight to the Travellers Rest Hotel, where Walter Baumgärtel immediately called the Ugandan military. The soldiers from Zaire were arrested, and Dian was safe.

In Kisoro, Dian was interrogated and warned not to return to Zaire. After more questioning in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, she finally flew back to Nairobi where she met with Dr. Leakey for the first time in seven months. There they decided, against the advice of the U.S. Embassy, that Dian would continue her work on the Rwandan side of the Virungas.

Dian Fossey founds Karisoke (1967)

"More than a decade later as I now sit writing these words at camp, the same stretch of alpine meadow is visible from my desk window. The sense of exhilaration I felt when viewing the heartland of the Virungas for the first time from those distant heights is as vivid now as though it had occurred only a short time ago. I have made my home among the mountain gorillas." - "Gorillas in the Mist"

Much of Dian Fossey's success in the study of mountain gorillas came from the help of people she met along the way. This would prove true once again as she moved her focus to Volcanoes National Park on the Rwandan side of the Virungas. In Rwanda, Dian met a woman named Rosamond Carr, who had lived in Rwanda for some years and was familiar with the country.

Carr introduced Dian to a Belgian woman, Alyette DeMunck, who was born in the Kivu Province of Zaire and lived in the Congo from an early age, remaining there with her husband until the political situation forced them to move to Rwanda. Alyette and Dian became fast friends, and Alyette became one of Dian's staunchest supporters in the years to come.

Alyette DeMunck knew a great deal about Rwanda, its people, and their ways. She offered to help Dian find an appropriate site for her new camp and renewed study of the mountain gorillas of the Virungas. At first, Dian was disappointed to find the slopes of Mt. Karisimbi crowded with herds of cattle and frequent signs of poachers. She was rewarded, however, after nearly two weeks, when Dian reached the alpine meadow of Karisimbi, where she had a view of the entire Virunga chain of extinct volcanoes.

KarisokeSo it was, on Sept. 24, 1967, that Dian Fossey established the Karisoke Research Center - "Kari" for the first four letters of Mt. Karisimbi that overlooked her camp from the south and "soke" for the last four letters of Mt. Visoke, the slopes of which rose to the north, directly behind camp.

"Little did I know then that by setting up two small tents in the wilderness of the Virungas I had launched the beginnings of what was to become an internationally renowned research station eventually to be utilized by students and scientists from many countries." - "Gorillas in the Mist"

Dian Fossey's Work at Karisoke Gets Underway

Dian faced a number of challenges while setting up camp at Karisoke. Upon the departure of her friend Alyette, she was left with no interpreter. Dian spoke Swahili and the Rwandan men she had hired spoke only Kinyarwanda. Slowly, and with the aid of hand gestures and facial expressions, they learned to communicate. A second and very significant challenge was that of gaining "acceptance" among the gorillas in the area so that meaningful research could be done in close proximity to them. This would require that the gorillas overcome their shy nature and natural fear of humans.

Schaller's earlier work served as a basis for the techniques Dian would use to habituate the gorillas to her presence. Schaller laid out suggestions in his book, The Mountain Gorilla, which Fossey used to guide herself through the process of successfully habituating six groups of gorillas in the Kabara region.

At Karisoke, Dian continued to rely on Schaller's work and the guidelines he set forth. She also came to depend on the gorillas' natural curiosity in the habituation process. While walking or standing upright increased their apprehension, she was able to get quite close when she "knuckle-walked." She would also chew on celery when she was near the groups, to draw them even closer to her. Through this process, she partially habituated four groups of gorillas in 1968.

It was also in 1968 that the National Geographic Society sent photographer Bob Campbell to photograph her work. Initially, Dian saw his presence as an intrusion, but they would eventually become close friends. His photographs of Fossey among the mountain gorillas launched her into instant celebrity, forever changing the image of the gorillas from dangerous beasts to gentle beings and drawing attention to their plight.

Gaining Scientific Credentials

Dian Fossey never felt entirely up to the scientific aspects of studying the mountain gorillas because she did not have, in her view, adequate academic qualifications.

To rectify this, she enrolled in the department of animal behavior at Darwin College, Cambridge, in 1970. There, she studied under Dr. Robert Hinde, who had also been Jane Goodall's supervisor. She traveled between Cambridge and Africa until 1974, when she completed her Ph.D.

Armed with the degree, she believed that she could be taken more seriously. It also enhanced her ability to continue her work, command respect, and most importantly, secure more funding.

Protecting the Gorillas

Even as Dian celebrated her daily achievements in collecting data and gaining acceptance among both the mountain gorillas and the world at large, she became increasingly aware of the threats the gorillas faced from poachers and cattle herders. Although gorillas were not usually the targets, they became ensnared in traps intended for other animals, particularly antelope or buffalo.

Dian fought both poachers and encroachment by herds of cattle through unorthodox methods: wearing masks to scare poachers, burning snares, spray-painting cattle to discourage herders from bringing them into the park, and, on occasion, taking on poachers directly, forcing confrontation.

She referred to her tactics as "active conservation," convinced that without immediate and decisive action, other long-term conservation goals would be useless as there would eventually be nothing left to save.

These tactics were not popular among locals who were struggling to get by. Additionally, the park guards were not equipped to enforce the laws protecting the forest and its inhabitants.

As a last resort, Dian used her own funds to help purchase boots, uniforms, food and provide additional wages to encourage park wardens to be more active in enforcing anti-poaching laws. These efforts spawned the first Karisoke anti-poaching patrols, whose job was to protect the gorillas in the research area.

Dian Fossey and Digit

Digit - 1st proximal contactIn the course of her years of research, Dian established herself as a true friend of the mountain gorilla. However, there was one gorilla with whom she formed a particularly close bond. Named Digit, he was roughly 5 years old and living in Group 4 when she encountered him in 1967. He had a damaged finger on his right hand (hence, the name) and no playmates his age in his group. He was drawn to her and her to him. Over time, a true friendship would form.

Tragically, on Dec. 31, 1977, Digit was killed by poachers. He died helping to defend his group, allowing them to escape safely. He was stabbed multiple times and his head and hands were severed. Eventually, there would be more deaths, including that of the dominant silverback Uncle Bert, and Group 4 would disband. It was then that Dian Fossey declared war on the poachers.

Digit had been part of a famous photo shoot with Bob Campbell and, as a result, had served as the official representative of the park's mountain gorillas, appearing on posters and in travel bureaus throughout the world. After much internal debate, Dian used his celebrity and his tragic death to gain attention and support for gorilla conservation. She established the Digit Fund to raise money for her "active conservation" and anti-poaching initiatives. The Digit Fund would later be renamed the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International (Fossey Fund).

Dian and DIgit

In 1980, Dian moved to Ithaca, New York, as a visiting associate professor at Cornell University. She used the time away from Karisoke to focus on the manuscript for her book, "Gorillas in the Mist." Published in 1983, the book is an account of her years in the rainforest with the mountain gorillas. Most importantly, it underscores the need for concerted conservation efforts. The book was well received and, like the movie of the same name, remains popular to this day.

Dian Fossey's Death (1985)

Dian had not been back in Rwanda long when, a few weeks before her 54th birthday, she was murdered. Her body was found in her cabin on the morning of Dec. 27, 1985. She was struck twice on the head and face with a machete. There was evidence of forced entry but no signs that robbery had been the motive.

Dian Fossey's grave

Theories about Dian Fossey's murder are varied but have never been fully resolved. She was laid to rest in the graveyard behind her cabin at Karisoke, among her gorilla friends and next to her beloved Digit.

"When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate on the preservation of the future." - "Gorillas in the Mist"

[source: https--gorillafund.org/who-we-are/dian-fossey/dian-fossey-bio]