Dian Fossey

Dian Fossey was born on January 16th, 1932. Dian Fossey is a woman who studied and tried to save the gorillas when they were endangered. For a number of years, she lived with the gorillas and studied their habits and natures. Her interest in gorillas started when she was young when she took a trip to Africa. She wanted to study something else but found gorillas that lived nearby her camp. She learned a little about the gorillas so she would be able to communicate with them. Then, she got so close to them that she could eventually tell the gorillas that she knew apart! An emotional moment in Dian's life with gorillas was when a gorilla named Peanuts reached out and touched her hand! The closer she got to the gorillas, the more she learned about them and discovered them.

She tried to save the gorillas in many ways. One way is she started the ''The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fond International". It's a website and fund that she started. She tried to persuade people to save the mountain gorillas from being endangered. On the ' The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fond International" website, you can "adopt a gorilla". You don't really keep a gorilla in your home, but you can give it money to help a gorilla. People think it was a good idea to save the mountain gorillas because at the time when Dian was alive, they were an endangered species. Dian Fossey also gave many speeches at communities. Without Dian Fossey, these gorillas could possibly be extinct and our thoughts and opinions about animals and nature could be different.

In 1983 Dian wrote a famous autobiography called, "Gorillas in The Mist." It is an autobiography about her life and journey living with the mountain gorillas. It is written like her diary. It sold a lot of copies, and since it was so popular, it turned into a film made 1988. The film was about Dian's life with the gorillas, although a different actor plays Dian Fossey. Sadly, a few years later on December 26th, 1985, Dian was killed at the age of 53 by men in Africa.

Dian Fossey is a MY HERO because she changed people's opinions about the mountain gorillas. Even after her death people are still trying to send the message to save animals. Saving the environment is a good thing to do. Caring about the environment is a good thing to do. Especially since nature is important to many people, including Dian Fossey, who thought very optimistic about gorillas.