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VOICE ONE:
I’m Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Faith Lapidus with People in America in VOA SpecialEnglish. Today we tell about Dian Fossey. She studied the wildmountain gorillas of central Africa. Her work resulted in efforts tosave 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. Shestayed with her mother, who married another man a short time later.Dian said she had a difficult relationship with both her mother andstepfather.
Dian was interested in animals all her life. She started makingplans to be a veterinarian, a doctor who treats animals. After highschool, 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 dotheir day-to-day activities independently. She completed her studiesat San Jose State in nineteen fifty-four.
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Dian Fossey left California and moved to the state of Kentucky.She accepted a position at the Kosair Crippled Children’s Hospitalin the city of Louisville. People there said she had a special giftof communicating with children with special needs. Yet she also hada desire to see more of the world.
Through friends, she became interested in Africa. She read a bookabout the wild mountain gorillas of central Africa written byAmerican zoologist George Schaller. The mountain gorilla is thelargest of the world’s apes.
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Fossey borrowed money and made asix-week trip to Africa in nineteen sixty-three. She visited a campoperated by the famous research scientists Louis and Mary Leakey.The Leakeys were best known for their studies of the development ofhuman ancestors.
Fossey met with Louis Leakey and discussed the importance ofscientific research on the great apes. She decided to study mountaingorillas, which were in danger of disappearing. Later on her trip,she traveled to the mountains of Rwanda. This is where she first sawmountain gorillas.
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Fossey returned to the United States with a desire to work inAfrica. She met with Professor Leakey a second time when he visitedthe United States to give a series of talks. This time, he asked herto begin a long-term study of the gorillas. He said information shecollected might help to show how human ancestors developed.
A group called the Wilkie Foundation agreed to support herresearch. The Wilkie Foundation already supported anotherresearcher, Jane Goodall, in her study of wild chimpanzees. Fosseyalso received help from a major scientific and educationalorganization — the National Geographic Society.
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Fossey returned to central Africa in nineteen sixty-six. Shespent a short time observing Jane Goodall. Then she began setting upher own research camp in what was then the country of Zaire. Fosseysought help from the local native people who knew how to followmountain gorillas in the wild.
A short time later, political unrest forced her to move to nearbyRwanda. She settled in a protected area between two mountains,Karisimbi and Visoke. There, she established the Karisoke ResearchCenter. 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 ofhours observing mountain gorillas. She worked hard to gainacceptance among the animals. To do this, she copied their actionsand sounds. She studied the gorillas daily and developed anunderstanding of each individual.
Many people had believed that mountain gorillas are fierce.Fossey found just the opposite. She learned that gorillas are bothgentle and intelligent. They use their strength mainly whendefending other members of their family or group.
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In nineteen seventy, the National Geographic Society wanted topublish a story about Fossey and her research. It sent aphotographer named Bob Campbell to Karisoke to take pictures. Hetook a picture of an adult male gorilla named Peanuts touchingFossey’s hand. This became the first friendly gorilla-to-humanaction ever recorded. The picture appeared on the front cover ofNational Geographic magazine. It helped to make Fossey and her workfamous.
The American researcher was able to sit among the gorillas andplay with them and their young. She made notes of everything shesaw. She took a count, or census, of the gorilla population. Shenoted what the animals ate and their environment.
Fossey learned a lot about the gorillas. But it became difficultfor her to remain an independent observer. She believed that theanimals would disappear forever unless something was done to protectthem and their environment.
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VOICE TWO:
Dian Fossey needed money to continue her research project. Shebelieved that she could get more financial assistance for her workby getting an advanced degree. She left Africa in nineteen seventyand attended the University of Cambridge in England. She received adoctorate in zoology a few years later.
Fossey returned to Rwanda to find that hunters were killing someof what she called “her gorillas.” The hunters earned money byselling the heads, hands and feet of the animals. Among the gorillaskilled was one called Digit. Fossey had observed Digit for manyyears and treated him almost like a friend. His remains were placedwith those of other dead gorillas in a special burial area near hercamp.
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After Digit was killed, Fosseyestablished a program to increase international support for effortsto protect mountain gorillas. It was called the Digit Fund. Fosseyalso began an active campaign to stop the killing of the gorillas.She opposed efforts by Rwandan officials to increase the number ofvisitors to the animals’ native environment.
She formed a small force to help guard mountain gorillas againsthumans. She destroyed traps used to catch the animals. Shethreatened the hunters and the people who helped them. NationalGeographic magazine published a report about her efforts. Manypeople who read the story sent money to support the campaign.
However, not everyone supported what Fossey was doing. Somepeople condemned her treatment of the hunters. Rwandan officialsopposed her efforts to control an area that she did not own. And,some animal experts criticized her strong emotional links with thegorillas. They also questioned her work as a scientist.
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VOICE TWO:
Dian Fossey suffered from a number of health problems. As shegrew older, she spent less time in the field and more time at hercamp doing paperwork. This was partly because she had collegestudents assisting in her research efforts.
In nineteen eighty, Fossey left Karisoke and accepted a positionat Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. There, she began to writea book about her years with the mountain gorillas. Her book waspublished in nineteen eighty-three. It is called “Gorillas in theMist.” By then, there were only about two hundred mountain gorillasin the world.
Dian Fossey made a large number of public appearances topublicize her book and the efforts to save the mountain gorillas.Then she returned to Rwanda. On December twenty-sixth, nineteeneighty-five, she was found murdered at her camp. A few days later,her body was buried near the remains of some of her gorillas.
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Even now, her death remains unsolved. Some people believe thatshe was killed by someone who opposed her strong attempts to protectthe gorillas. Three years after her death, a major American motionpicture based on her book was released. It is also called “Gorillasin the Mist.” It helped tell her story to millions of people aroundthe world.
Dian Fossey kept a written record of her daily activities. Shewrote: When you understand the value of all life, you think lessabout what is past and think instead about the protection of thefuture.
Dian Fossey loved her work and used her research to help save thegorillas and their environment. Today, the mountain gorillapopulation is increasing. Some people have said that without herefforts the animals would no longer exist. The Dian Fossey GorillaFund International continues her work.
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VOICE TWO:
This program was written by George Grow. Lawan Davis was ourproducer. I’m Faith Lapidus.
VOICE ONE:
And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for PEOPLE INAMERICA in VOA Special English.