Dian Fossey, The Gorilla Maestro: You can not talk about Mountain gorillas in Uganda and Rwanda without mentioning Dian Fossey. She committed all her life to studying and protecting the Mountain gorillas. She wrote all her encounters during her time with these gorillas in a book entitled “Gorillas in The Mist” late a movie was shot about the same.
Despite that the habitat for these gorillas is just in Uganda, Rwanda and DRC, she decided to settle in Rwanda in Volcanoes National Park, where she set up her research center.
She was born on 16th January 1932 and was found dead in her cabin on 27th December 1985. She stayed in Africa for 18 years. She had been away lecturing in the USA, and on her return, it was then that she met her death. The exact cause of death of Dian Fossey, who was killed in 1985, remains unclear to date, though the crime scene was portrayed to look like it is the poachers that she was fighting that killed her. She was found with machete cuts on her head.
Her dedication is seen when she went back to pursue a course in animal behaviour since it was the only issue that was retarding her research. She got a boost when the National Geographic Society sent a photographer to work with her.
She made several discoveries, many of which were less known about these gorillas. For example, how the silverback will raid another group and kill the offspring of the female, such that she can have his babies, and her work was cut short when she was murdered in 1985, but her legacy continues through the fund, which protects gorillas today.
Fossey became a fierce protector of the gorillas, particularly after the brutal killing of her favorite silverback, Digit. This led her to create anti-poaching patrols to destroy traps and apprehend poachers.
