American primatologist and conservationist (1932–1985)
Dian Fossey
Born
(1932-01-16)January 16, 1932
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Died
c. December 26, 1985(1985-12-26) (aged 53)
Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda
Cause of death
Murder
Resting place
Karisoke Research Center
Alma mater
College of Marin
San Jose State University (BA)
University of Cambridge (PhD)
Known for
Study and conservation of the mountain gorilla
Scientific career
Fields
Ethology
Primatology
Institutions
Karisoke Research Center
Cornell University
Thesis
The behaviour of the mountain gorilla(1976)
Doctoral advisor
Robert Hinde
Dian Fossey (/daɪˈæn/dy-AN; January 16, 1932 – c. December 26, 1985) was an American primatologist and conservationist known for undertaking an extensive study of mountain gorilla groups from 1966 until her murder in 1985.[1] She studied them daily in the mountain forests of Rwanda, initially encouraged to work there by paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey. Gorillas in the Mist, a book published two years before her death, is Fossey's account of her scientific study of the gorillas at Karisoke Research Center and prior career. It was adapted into a 1988 film of the same name.[2]
Fossey was a leading primatologist, and a member of the "Trimates", a group of female scientists recruited by Leakey to study great apes in their natural environments, along with Jane Goodall who studies chimpanzees, and Birutė Galdikas, who studies orangutans.[3][4]
Fossey spent 20 years in Rwanda, where she supported conservation efforts, strongly opposed poaching and tourism in wildlife habitats, and made more people acknowledge the sapience of gorillas. Following the killing of a gorilla and subsequent tensions, she was murdered in her cabin at a remote camp in Rwanda in December 1985. Although Fossey's American research assistant was convicted in absentia, there is no consensus as to who killed her.
Her research and conservation work helped reduce the downward population trend in mountain gorillas.
^"World-renowned primatologist Dian Fossey is found murdered in Rwanda". HISTORY. Archived from the original on July 21, 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
^Ware, Susan; Braukman, Stacy (2004). Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary, Volume 5. Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. pp. 220–1. ISBN 0-674-01488-X.
^Robertson, Nan (May 1981). "Three Who Have Chosen a Life in the Wild". B. The New York Times. p. 4. Archived from the original on August 22, 2019.
^Willis, Delta (July 15, 1990). "Some Primates Weren't To Be Trusted". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 1, 2019. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
DianFossey (/daɪˈæn/ dy-AN; January 16, 1932 – c. December 26, 1985) was an American primatologist and conservationist known for undertaking an extensive...
book of the same name by DianFossey and the article by Harold T. P. Hayes. It stars Sigourney Weaver as naturalist DianFossey and Bryan Brown as photographer...
The DianFossey Gorilla Fund International (originally the Digit Fund) is a charity for the protection of endangered mountain gorillas. The Digit Fund...
Volcanoes National Park. It was founded by DianFossey on 24 September 1967 to study endangered mountain gorillas. Fossey located the camp in Rwanda's Virunga...
called Leakey's Angels, is a name given to three women — Jane Goodall, DianFossey, and Birutė Galdikas — chosen by anthropologist Louis Leakey to study...
and Best Supporting Actress—for the respective roles of primatologist DianFossey in Gorillas in the Mist and a young associate in Working Girl, both of...
organization, life history, and ecology. DianFossey began what would become an 18-year study in 1967. Fossey made new observations, completed the first...
Brigitte Fossey (born 1947), French actress Charles Fossey (1869–1946), French assyriologist DianFossey (1932–1985), American zoologist F. J. C. Hearnshaw...
the erotic thriller Half Moon Street. Her next role was primatologist DianFossey in Gorillas in the Mist (1988), for which she won a Golden Globe Award...
war (Butynski et al. 2003). The Karisoke Research Center, founded by DianFossey to observe gorillas in their native habitat, is located between Mount...
the Mists: The Story of DianFossey and the Mountain Gorillas of Africa is a 1987 biography of the conservationist DianFossey, who studied and lived among...
gorilla and the golden monkey, and was the base for the primatologist DianFossey. The park was first gazetted in 1925, as a small area bounded by Karisimbi...
environmental and animal rights causes. He served as a board member of The DianFossey Gorilla Fund and the Ark Trust, which in 2002 became the Hollywood branch...
from the original on June 3, 2023. Retrieved June 3, 2023. "DianFossey Biography". DianFossey Gorilla Fund International. Archived from the original on...
forts and medieval castles.[better source needed] DianFossey Craghoppers partnered with the DianFossey Gorilla Fund International, a charity that protects...
WIFE ELLEN DEGENERES WITH AMAZING BIRTHDAY GIFT TO DIANFOSSEY GORILLA FUND | DianFossey". DianFossey. February 1, 2018. Archived from the original on...
include: The interspecies friendship between zoologist DianFossey and a group of gorillas. Fossey developed relationships with the gorillas she studied...
studied by DianFossey, killed by poachers and buried near Fossey's grave Digit Fund, now the DianFossey Gorilla Fund International, founded by Fossey to raise...
evolution. He personally focused on three female researchers, Jane Goodall, DianFossey, and Birutė Galdikas, calling them "The Trimates." Each went on to become...
DianFossey's work conducted at the Karisoke Research station in Rwanda proved the possibility of habituation among the mountain gorillas. Fossey learned...
of DianFossey, and in the United States as Woman in the Mists: The Story of DianFossey and the Mountain Gorillas of Africa—an allusion to Fossey's own...
tapanuliensis) Gibbon (family: Hylobatidae) Study of apes Great ape language DianFossey Birutė Galdikas Jane Goodall Chimpanzee genome project Human Genome Project...
Community College District Policy No. 5400. "DianFossey - Biography". Helping people. Saving gorillas. DianFossey Gorilla Fund International. Archived from...
Karisimbi and Bisoke is the Karisoke Research Center, which was founded by DianFossey in order to observe the mountain gorillas living in this area. On February...
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