Today, January 16, is Dian Fossey's birthday 🕯️
Today is Dian Fossey's birthday. She would've been 89 years old. To pay tribute to her and all the amazing work she did, I made the illustration you see on this post.
I remember when I first watched "Gorillas in the Mist" at a very young age and how taken I was with her story and all she did for the mountain gorillas in Virunga.
She started studying them in the 60s, and in 1967 she established the Karisoke Research Center to continue studying gorillas and their behavior.
She worked tirelessly to protect gorillas from poachers and encroachment by herds, even getting a PhD in 1974 to be better prepared for the study and conservation of the gorillas.
She wrote "Gorillas in the Mist" in the 80s —getting it published in 1983— where she recounted her experiences of working with the gorillas.
Shortly after returning to Rwanda she was murdered, and later buried next to her gorillas.
Thanks to her work, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International continues the work that she started by working towards the protection and conservation of mountain gorillas.
To make a donation to the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, go to this link and help in any way you can.
To check out merch in the store that helps gorillas and looks great, check it out here.