The true story of primatologist Dian Fossey

Do you know a hero, real or fictional, who went on an epic journey which you want to retrace? In this Lonely Planet series, follow in the footsteps of famous people and legends, and relive their adventure stories that are etched in our minds through popular books, journals, movies, TV shows and real lives lived.

Her story

Dian Fossey (1932-1985) was the American primatologist (one who studies apes) who went to Rwanda and Congo to study the highly endangered Mountain Gorillas from 1966 up to her death in 1985. Her story was beautifully depicted in the popular Hollywood movie ‘Gorillas in the Mist’, which was also the name of the book she wrote.

Fossey went up close to live amongst the Gorilla families and actually mimicked them so as to be accepted by the Gorillas as one of them. Until then, the only human encounters these endangered apes had was with poachers and hence Fossey required a lot of visits before she could be trusted by them. After that she could study their behaviors and habits in order to release her ground breaking research papers. In 1970, Dian Fossey even came on the cover of National Geographic and that brought her international name and fame, well beyond what can be hoped for by a researcher. She became the undisputed authority on the largest apes and our close cousins.

Fossey is largely credited with preventing the decline of the Mountain Gorillas population which was down to just 250 individual members in 1981 from 450 in 1960 due to war and rampant poaching all across the Virunga Mountains in Congo, East Africa. In 2020,the Mountain Gorilla population had gone past one thousand individuals as per WWF.

Post awareness of their plight, tourism also played a major role in the survival and revival of this fascinating species. Since the tourist need to pay 1500 USD per person to Rwanda government (Volcanoes National Park) and 700 USD per person to Uganda government (Bwindi National Park), the respective nations are able to fund rangers to protect these magnificent human-like creatures. These payments are for viewing Mountain Gorillas for just 1 hour and hence it is an exclusive tourist experience and that does control the associated risks with over-tourism but unfortunately it is not something everyone will see and feel first hand.

Over the years, with all her struggles in fighting poachers, Fossey had also made a lot of enemies, specially with those who benefitted from this illegal trade. This came back to haunt her one dark night in 1985 when she was brutally hacked to death with a crude machete. Her life ended suddenly that night, however her legacy continues as more and more of us go to view these incredible human cousins, thriving in their natural habitat.

Must Visit Places for Gorilla tracking

1) Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda for Gorilla tracking
2) Bwindi National Park in Uganda for Gorilla tracking
3) The site of Dian Fossey’s grave and research hut where she lived (in ruins now) in Karisoke (Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda)