Dian Fossey was an American zoologist who worked with gorillas in Rwanda. Her career was cut short when she was killed in 1985. She is remembered by organizations like The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. Fossey studied gorillas and debunked misconceptions about them. She was an environmentalist who opposed keeping gorillas in zoos and research facilities and clashed with poachers. Her death remains unresolved, but she was buried in a cemetery she set up for animals killed by poachers.
Dian Fossey is an American zoologist best known for her work with gorillas in Rwanda. Her career was sadly cut short when she was killed in 1985, in circumstances that have yet to be resolved. Several foundations and organizations carry forward the memory of Dian Fossey in their conservation work, including The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. She is considered one of the “Angels of Leakey,” a group of well-known researchers who worked in Africa with great apes.
She was born in 1932 in San Francisco and from an early age she was interested in zoology and veterinary science. She struggled with classes, however, eventually becoming an occupational therapist in the 1960s. However, Fossey was never truly happy with this work, and she began to be drawn to Africa and the work of Louis Leakey, a paleontologist who made a number of remarkable discoveries. In the 1960s, she went to Leakey with the intent of getting a job working with gorillas, and by 1967, she was working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then moved to Rwanda in response to the civil unrest.
Fossey studied the techniques of Jane Goodall, a noted chimpanzee researcher and fellow Angel. Dian Fossey wanted to explore the natural lifestyle of gorillas, but to do so, she had to get the animals used to her. She modeled her fieldwork style on Goodall’s, establishing a connection with the gorillas so they felt comfortable around her. She also debunked many misconceptions about gorillas, showing that they could be loving and kind, and that cases of gorilla violence were likely related to self-defense, not an inherently violent nature.
As an environmentalist, Dian Fossey has been controversial. She was an active opponent of keeping gorillas in zoos and research facilities, and she pushed for greater gorilla protection. Unlike many conservationists, Fossey has refused to support or promote tourism, arguing that she has harmed animals more than she has helped them. She also repeatedly clashed with poachers and was the victim of violent threats.
On December 26, 1985, Fossey was found dead in her cabin with a severe head wound. While some people have suggested that she was killed by poachers, others have argued that the poachers probably would have killed her in the forest, rather than in her field, and that she may have been killed because of her radical environmental views of she. Whatever the circumstances of her death, Dian Fossey was buried with her gorilla friends in a cemetery she had set up for the bodies of animals killed by poachers.
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