Dian Fossey

November 7, 2004

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VOICE ONE:

I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus with People in America in VOA Special
English. Today we tell about Dian Fossey. She studied the wild
mountain gorillas of central Africa. Her work resulted in efforts to
save these rare and endangered animals.

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VOICE ONE:

Dian Fossey was born in nineteen thirty-two in San Francisco,
California. Her parents ended their marriage when she was young. She
stayed with her mother, who married another man a short time later.
Dian said she had a difficult relationship with both her mother and
stepfather.

Dian was interested in animals all her life. She started making
plans to be a veterinarian, a doctor who treats animals. After high
school, she attended San Jose State College in California. There,
she was successful in some subjects, but not others.

She changed her program of study to occupational therapy.
Occupational therapists help injured and sick people learn to do
their day-to-day activities independently. She completed her studies
at San Jose State in nineteen fifty-four.

VOICE TWO:

Dian Fossey left California and moved to the state of Kentucky.
She accepted a position at the Kosair Crippled Children's Hospital
in the city of Louisville. People there said she had a special gift
of communicating with children with special needs. Yet she also had
a desire to see more of the world.

Through friends, she became interested in Africa. She read a book
about the wild mountain gorillas of central Africa written by
American zoologist George Schaller. The mountain gorilla is the
largest of the world's apes.

VOICE ONE:

Fossey borrowed money and made a
six-week trip to Africa in nineteen sixty-three. She visited a camp
operated by the famous research scientists Louis and Mary Leakey.
The Leakeys were best known for their studies of the development of
human ancestors.

Fossey met with Louis Leakey and discussed the importance of
scientific research on the great apes. She decided to study mountain
gorillas, which were in danger of disappearing. Later on her trip,
she traveled to the mountains of Rwanda. This is where she first saw
mountain gorillas.

VOICE TWO:

Fossey returned to the United States with a desire to work in
Africa. She met with Professor Leakey a second time when he visited
the United States to give a series of talks. This time, he asked her
to begin a long-term study of the gorillas. He said information she
collected might help to show how human ancestors developed.

A group called the Wilkie Foundation agreed to support her
research. The Wilkie Foundation already supported another
researcher, Jane Goodall, in her study of wild chimpanzees. Fossey
also received help from a major scientific and educational
organization -- the National Geographic Society.

VOICE ONE:

Fossey returned to central Africa in nineteen sixty-six. She
spent a short time observing Jane Goodall. Then she began setting up
her own research camp in what was then the country of Zaire. Fossey
sought help from the local native people who knew how to follow
mountain gorillas in the wild.

A short time later, political unrest forced her to move to nearby
Rwanda. She settled in a protected area between two mountains,
Karisimbi and Visoke. There, she established the Karisoke Research
Center. This would be her home for most of the next eighteen years.
Much of that time, she worked alone.

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VOICE TWO:

DianFossey spent thousands of
hours observing mountain gorillas. She worked hard to gain
acceptance among the animals. To do this, she copied their actions
and sounds. She studied the gorillas daily and developed an
understanding of each individual.

Many people had believed that mountain gorillas are fierce.
Fossey found just the opposite. She learned that gorillas are both
gentle and intelligent. They use their strength mainly when
defending other members of their family or group.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen seventy, the National Geographic Society wanted to
publish a story about Fossey and her research. It sent a
photographer named Bob Campbell to Karisoke to take pictures. He
took a picture of an adult male gorilla named Peanuts touching
Fossey's hand. This became the first friendly gorilla-to-human
action ever recorded. The picture appeared on the front cover of
National Geographic magazine. It helped to make Fossey and her work
famous.

The American researcher was able to sit among the gorillas and
play with them and their young. She made notes of everything she
saw. She took a count, or census, of the gorilla population. She
noted what the animals ate and their environment.

Fossey learned a lot about the gorillas. But it became difficult
for her to remain an independent observer. She believed that the
animals would disappear forever unless something was done to protect
them and their environment.

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VOICE TWO:

Dian Fossey needed money to continue her research project. She
believed that she could get more financial assistance for her work
by getting an advanced degree. She left Africa in nineteen seventy
and attended the University of Cambridge in England. She received a
doctorate in zoology a few years later.

Fossey returned to Rwanda to find that hunters were killing some
of what she called "her gorillas." The hunters earned money by
selling the heads, hands and feet of the animals. Among the gorillas
killed was one called Digit. Fossey had observed Digit for many
years and treated him almost like a friend. His remains were placed
with those of other dead gorillas in a special burial area near her
camp.

VOICE ONE:

After Digit was killed, Fossey
established a program to increase international support for efforts
to protect mountain gorillas. It was called the Digit Fund. Fossey
also began an active campaign to stop the killing of the gorillas.
She opposed efforts by Rwandan officials to increase the number of
visitors to the animals' native environment.

She formed a small force to help guard mountain gorillas against
humans. She destroyed traps used to catch the animals. She
threatened the hunters and the people who helped them. National
Geographic magazine published a report about her efforts. Many
people who read the story sent money to support the campaign.

However, not everyone supported what Fossey was doing. Some
people condemned her treatment of the hunters. Rwandan officials
opposed her efforts to control an area that she did not own. And,
some animal experts criticized her strong emotional links with the
gorillas. They also questioned her work as a scientist.

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VOICE TWO:

Dian Fossey suffered from a number of health problems. As she
grew older, she spent less time in the field and more time at her
camp doing paperwork. This was partly because she had college
students assisting in her research efforts.

In nineteen eighty, Fossey left Karisoke and accepted a position
at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. There, she began to write
a book about her years with the mountain gorillas. Her book was
published in nineteen eighty-three. It is called "Gorillas in the
Mist." By then, there were only about two hundred mountain gorillas
in the world.

Dian Fossey made a large number of public appearances to
publicize her book and the efforts to save the mountain gorillas.
Then she returned to Rwanda. On December twenty-sixth, nineteen
eighty-five, she was found murdered at her camp. A few days later,
her body was buried near the remains of some of her gorillas.

VOICE ONE:

Even now, her death remains unsolved. Some people believe that
she was killed by someone who opposed her strong attempts to protect
the gorillas. Three years after her death, a major American motion
picture based on her book was released. It is also called "Gorillas
in the Mist." It helped tell her story to millions of people around
the world.

Dian Fossey kept a written record of her daily activities. She
wrote: When you understand the value of all life, you think less
about what is past and think instead about the protection of the
future.

Dian Fossey loved her work and used her research to help save the
gorillas and their environment. Today, the mountain gorilla
population is increasing. Some people have said that without her
efforts the animals would no longer exist. The Dian Fossey Gorilla
Fund International continues her work.

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VOICE TWO:

This program was written by George Grow. Lawan Davis was our
producer. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN
AMERICA in VOA Special English.