Poster Presentation

This research was done on Dian Fossey, who spent 18 years of her life dedicated to saving the mountain gorillas.  Fossey was a woman who did not let much stand in her way of what she believed in.  Her first visit to see the mountain gorillas was in 1963 on a seven-week safari to Zaire.  On first sight, she fell in love with the endangered creatures and knew that the trip had changed her life forever.  Three years later she raised enough funds to return to Africa, then traveled to Zaire to study and count the mountain gorillas.  After being taken into custody in Zaire, she fled to Uganda, and then moved to Rwanda.  In Rwanda, she set up a research center in the Parc des Volcans, and it later also became the headquarters for her anti-poaching patrols.  Every day Fossey would go out and observe the gorillas in their habitat, gaining their trust, and becoming their friend.  Her research and observations helped carve out the stereotype that mountain gorillas are violent, for they only are when protecting their families.  She recorded many of their habits and behavior patterns, findings that showed more about the mountain gorillas than anyone had ever discovered before.  After the murder of her favorite gorilla, Digit, she started the Digit Fund, which helps raise money for saving the mountain gorillas.  Dian Fossey was killed in 1985, but her legend still lives on.  Without her work and efforts, there would not be as many mountain gorillas today.