Essay On Dian Fossey

Have you ever thought about living with mountain gorillas for eighteen years? I would never have thought to do that, but a lady named Dian Fossey did. She was a zoologist and an amazing woman who studied mountain gorillas and even lived with them for a long time. She studied how they acted towards humans and each other. Her main goal was to protect them.

Dian Fossey was born on January 16,1932 in San Francisco, California. Her parents divorced when she was three years old due to her father's alcoholism. Her real father was an insurance agent, while her mom was a fashion model. She lived with her mother and stepfather throughout her childhood in San Francisco. During this time, she was not treated well by her stepfather. At the age of six, she started horseback riding lessons and fell in …show more content…
Leaky asked Dian if she would be interested in the study of great Apes and human evolution. Soon after she began the study she discovered that gorillas have families and they have specific motions and ways of talking. She did her research in four different African countries. Kenya, Tanzania, Congo and Zimbabwe was where it all happened. This discovery affected not only mountain gorillas but humans too. It showed them how amazing these creatures were and how even though we didn’t evolve from them, they have similar traits to us. Dian Fossey had a reason for this doing, she wanted people to see gorillas the way she did and she wanted to protect them. While she was in Africa she watched the population of gorillas decreased. She developed an unbreakable bond with a gorilla named Digit. In 1970, she went back to school to further her studies. She wanted to get a Phd in Zoology, she achieved this in 1974. She later returned to her camp to continue her studies with the gorillas. Digit her beloved gorilla was killed in 1978, protecting his family. A poacher cut his head and hands off. His body was buried at her camp