Fossey, Dian

American Primatologist 1932-1985

Dian Fossey, born in 1932, was a celebrated mountain gorilla researcher. Fossey initially dreamed of becoming a veterinarian, but her science grades prevented her from pursuing that goal. A fairly antisocial person, she got along well with children and animals as an occupational therapy intern before making her way to Africa at the age of thirty-one. There she was immediately captivated, and she became acquainted with renowned anthropologist Louis Leakey, who was engaged in research. Impressed with her attitude, Leakey sent her to eastern Congo in 1966, and Africa became the setting of her life's work.

Fossey enjoyed working in Africa despite horrifying conditions. Shortly after her arrival in the Republic of Congo (later Zaire), the country became embroiled in civil war, and she later escaped to Rwanda. Despite the tense political situation and other extreme difficulties (poachers, disease, lack of funding, and so on), Fossey vigorously protected her subjects of choice, mountain gorillas. She quickly got closer to them than other researchers and managed to become accepted among them. Although some critics argued that her methodology was unscientific, saying it was unquantifiable, Fossey logged thousands of contact hours and observations, frequently finding new groups of animals to work with.

Fossey also worked to keep the gorillas' habitat intact. Frequent invasions by poachers and cattle herdsmen destroyed what little mountain gorilla habitat remained. Fiercely independent, she was unwilling to compromise her activities or research methods despite the conflicting opinions of others.

In 1973, Fossey left Africa to begin her graduate studies at Cambridge. After earning her Ph.D in 1976, she was a visiting professor at Cornell University from 1980 to 1982. She also took this time to write Gorillas in the Mist, a firsthand account of her experiences. It became an enormously popular book although it was less well received by other primatologists. She returned to Africa in 1983, convinced that her methods of poaching prevention would best serve the gorilla population.

In 1985, Fossey was murdered, most likely by poachers. Since her death, there have been few poaching incidents and the mountain gorilla population has been growing. Fossey brought the plight of the mountain gorilla to public consciousness and left behind the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund for their protection.

Louis Leakey believed women were better suited than men to observe and note animal behavior because he thought women were more patient.

Primates.

Hayes, Harold T. P. The Dark Romance of Dian Fossey. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990.

Fossey, Dian. Gorillas in the Mist. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1983.

The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. <http://www.gorillafund.org� 3e;.

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