Dian Fossey

Biography current as of induction in 2024

Born in San Francisco, Fossey developed a deep admiration for animals from a young age. She began her career as an occupational therapist, but her true calling emerged after a transformative trip to Africa in 1963. On a stop at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, famed anthropologists Louis and Mary Leakey told Fossey about Jane Goodall’s work and the importance of long-term field studies on the great apes. Captivated by a mountain gorilla sighting on a stop in Congo, Fossey resolved to come back to study these elusive creatures.

In 1966, Fossey began a long-term field study on gorillas in the Virunga Mountains in Congo until a military coup led her to resettle on the Rwanda side of the mountain chain. There, she established the Karisoke Research Center, where she observed gorilla behavior and ecology for 18 years, carefully tracking groups of gorillas and gradually habituating them to her presence. Her research, popularized by National Geographic images of her with the gorillas, helped shift the popular image of gorillas from aggressive beasts to gentle giants with social behaviors similar to humans.

As Fossey became increasingly aware of threats to the gorillas from poachers and cattle herders, she adopted active conservation tactics, including the creation of anti-poaching patrols. Her commitment to gorilla protection intensified after the killing of Digit, a young gorilla she had grown close to, leading her to create the organization that would become the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.

In 1980, Fossey took leave from Karisoke to write Gorillas in the Mist, an international bestseller that highlighted the need for urgent conservation efforts and was later adapted into an Academy Award-nominated film. Shortly after returning to her research camp, Fossey was found murdered in her cabin at Karisoke just weeks before her 54^th birthday. She was laid to rest among the graves of some of her beloved gorillas and next to Digit.

Today, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund continues the research and conservation work Fossey started. The Virunga population of mountain gorillas, which were at the brink of extinction in the early 1980s with fewer than 250 individuals remaining, has more than doubled due to conservation efforts.