gorillas. in Rwanda, Africa, while protecting
them from poachers and neglect for eighteen years. Dian Fossey received her Ph.D. in Zoology from Cambridge University
based on her research in 1976.
Dian Fossey began her training as an occupational therapist, but she turned her attention to the study of primates
in Africa after meeting anthropologist Dr. Louis Leakey. Dr. Leakey offered Dian funding to study the gorillas in the
field and report on their behavior and methods of survival. Dian Fossey studied and befriended the
gorillas. in Rwanda, Africa, while protecting
them from poachers and neglect for eighteen years. Dian Fossey received her Ph.D. in Zoology from Cambridge University
based on her research in 1976.
Dr. Dian Fossey's most noted accomplishment is her book "Gorillas in the Mist", which was published in 1983. It was later turned into a movie starring Sigourney Weaver.
There is a quote from Dr. Fossey's field notes:"I had a wonderful contact, especially with Uncle Bert who was an angel and led the whole group over to my side of a steep ravine I could not cross to get over to them. Digit came over last, taking his time as if he couldn't care less. Then he finally came right over to me and gently touched my hair. . . I wish I could have given them all something in return."
Dr. Fossey was known all round Rwanda as the "woman who lives alone in the forest." She was found murdered in her cabin in 1985; a murder that has yet to be solved.
