Dian fossey was an American primatologist doing research in Africa. She stood up against gorilla poachers by opposing their beliefs, disrupting their work, and fighting them. She became interested in gorillas when she took a trip to Africa in 1963. She spent her entire life savings, and even had to take out a loan. She fell in love with the mountain gorillas right away, and she knew she wanted to return to Africa to study them. Just four years later, she went back and set up her research station in Rwanda, Africa. Things started out slow, she had to keep her distance and try to build a bond, which she did. She had a special bond with one gorilla named Digit. However, along with spending time with the gorillas, Dian Fossey experienced poachers in action, killing the creatures she loved…show more content… The sudden murder of her gorilla friend, Digit, is known as a turning point in her career. This was part of her large realization that something urgent had to be done. She became more aggressive with her work, and she even kidnapped the young son of a poacher to teach him a lesson. She knew what she was doing was dangerous, but she kept pressing on. In late 1985, however, she was murdered in her cabin. Not much is known of what happened, including who killed her, but there is lots of evidence pointing to the fact that it was a poacher. But, Dian Fossey’s work does not end there. A census taken the year after her death revealed that the population of the mountain gorillas was slowly, but surely increasing! While she was still alive, she had even said that the species would be extinct within the next fifteen years. Plenty of money has been raised in her name, and her legacy
