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Gorillas in the Mist
One of the most important books ever written about our connection to the natural world, Gorillas in the Mist is the riveting account of Dian Fossey's thirteen years in a remote African rain forest with the greatest of the great apes. Fossey's extraordinary efforts to ensure the future of the rain forest and its remaining mountain gorillas are captured in her own words and in candid photographs of this fascinating endangered species. As only she could, Fossey combined her personal adventure story with groundbreaking scientific reporting in an unforgettable portrait of one of our closest primate relatives. Although Fossey's work ended tragically in her murder, Gorillas in the Mist remains an invaluable testament to one of the longest-running field studies of primates and reveals her undying passion for her subject.
326 pages, Paperback
First published August 25, 1983
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August 27, 2024
LA SIGNORA DEI GORILLA
Nel 1994, in pieno genocidio dei tutsi, l’operazione italica per riportare a casa i connazionali fu chiamata Silverback.
C’era una volta Louis Leaky, paleo-antropologo inglese, che aveva un talento per scoprire talenti. Un eccellente talent scout che individuò e sponsorizzò sia l’autrice di questo libro molto bello, Dian Fossey, nel suo fondamentale studio sui gorilla di montagna, qui racchiuso, studio che è diventato la pietra miliare per quanto riguarda l’affascinantissimo primate africano; e altrettanto fece con Jane Goodall che ha studiato gli scimpanze della Tanzania, e con Birute Galdikas che ha studiato gli oranghi in Borneo. In pratica, le tre “Signore delle Scimmie”, dette anche Leaky’ Angels, studiose che hanno contribuito in modo determinante allo studio di questi primati.
E soprattutto, c’era una volta Dian Fossey che aveva una passione per i gorilla e all’età di trentun’anni s’indebitò per potersi permettere il suo primo safari in Africa con lo scopo di andare a conoscere Louis Leaky, paleoantropologo inglese, che credette in lei e le diede l’incarico di una ricerca studio a lungo termine sui gorilla di montagna. I monti dei Virunga a cavallo tra Rwanda e Zaire/Congo, una delle zone più infestate dalla violenza umana, sia sulle scimmie che sugli umani stessi (milioni di profughi e milioni di morti, intorno e attraverso quei monti).
Questo libro inizia con quattro pagine fitte fitte di ringraziamenti, che di solito vanno in coda: invece qui precedono, e i primi due grazie sono per chi le ha prestato i soldi per partire per l’Africa e poi ovviamente per Louis Leaky, il suo prezioso mentore.
Il film omonimo è del 1988, diretto da Michael Apted, con una buona interpretazione di Sigourney Weaver. Peccato che la sceneggiatura sembri scritta da quelli della Disney.
I gorilla studiati da Dian Fossey vivono sui monti dei Virunga intorno ai sei vulcani estinti, stando attenti a tenersi lontani dai due ancora attivi. Geograficamente la zona si divide tra Zaire, poi tornato a chiamarsi Congo, o meglio, Repubblica Democratica del Congo, e il Rwanda. Fossey iniziò la sua ricerca dallo Zaire/Congo e la concluse in Rwanda. In tutto per una quindicina d’anni (ma ha comunque dedicato la vita a questa ricerca).
In verità c’è anche una piccola frazione a nord che fa capo all’Uganda che Fossey seguì molto meno.
I gorilla di montagna erano un numero molto ristretto all’epoca della Fossey (poco più di duecento, lei ne censì 240) e se sono aumentati lo si deve solo alla sua battaglia (ora sembra che siano un migliaio). Quelli di pianura, i cugini, erano già all’epoca un po’ più numerosi, circa quattromila.
Le tre grandi scimmie, gorilla, oranghi e scimpanze sono gli unici primati senza coda, hanno mani e piedi con cinque dita, delle quali il primo opponibile (pollice?), trentadue denti (e quindi sorrisi ad altrettanti trentadue denti) e altri tratti fisici che li rendono prossimi all’uomo.
Il libro potrebbe essere noioso, o troppo tecnico: invece, risulta una lettura altamente emozionante, perfino travolgente, spesso anche commovente. Dipende dall’immenso fascino degli animali oggetto dello studio, e dalla personalità di Dian Fossey, la sua intelligenza e il suo amore senza confini per i gorilla.
Personalità che è stata criticata per certi modi spicci, per aver in qualche occasione anteposto gli animali agli uomini, per reazioni apparse esagerate (tipo prendere in ostaggio gli adolescenti di una tribù che metteva trappole nelle quali restavano uccisi anche i gorilla). Ma alcuni colleghi la criticavano anche perché la trovavano troppo indipendente ed esuberante, ma scarsamente metodica e canonica.
Quello che queste pagine trasmettono è il suo interesse sconfinato, la sua passione, il rispetto per gli animali e la natura. Che la portavano a trascorrere ore, giorni, settimane, forse perfino mesi pressoché immobile in prossimità dei gorilla per non spaventarli, abituarli alla sua presenza e conquistarne la fiducia. Che la portarono a combattere per salvaguardare i gorilla e il loro habitat, per proteggerlo e difenderlo dai bracconieri che uccidevano, o catturavano su commissione degli zoo di tutto il mondo.
E che la portarono a una morte orribile il 26 dicembre 1995: uccisa a colpi di un’arma molto simile al machete chiamata panga, per mani di qualcuno che molto probabilmente la conosceva bene. Il colpevole non è mai stato individuato. Ma neppure mai davvero cercato.
Fossey racconta così il primo incontro con il gorilla di montagna allo studio del quale ha dedicato la vita nel senso più letterale del termine:
Ci fermammo a una distanza di circa 5 metri e, attraverso il fogliame, scorgemmo facce come maschere di cuoio che ci fissavano con aria furiosa e inquisitrice; i loro occhi scintillanti sotto le spesse sopracciglia cercavano di individuare se fossimo amici o nemici. Fui immediatamente colpita da questi imponenti corpi neri che si distaccavano del verde inteso del fogliame... Fui catturata dalla loro personalità e dalla timidezza del loro comportamento.
Nel 1994, in pieno genocidio dei tutsi, l’operazione italica per riportare a casa i connazionali fu chiamata Silverback.
C’era una volta Louis Leaky, paleo-antropologo inglese, che aveva un talento per scoprire talenti. Un eccellente talent scout che individuò e sponsorizzò sia l’autrice di questo libro molto bello, Dian Fossey, nel suo fondamentale studio sui gorilla di montagna, qui racchiuso, studio che è diventato la pietra miliare per quanto riguarda l’affascinantissimo primate africano; e altrettanto fece con Jane Goodall che ha studiato gli scimpanze della Tanzania, e con Birute Galdikas che ha studiato gli oranghi in Borneo. In pratica, le tre “Signore delle Scimmie”, dette anche Leaky’ Angels, studiose che hanno contribuito in modo determinante allo studio di questi primati.
E soprattutto, c’era una volta Dian Fossey che aveva una passione per i gorilla e all’età di trentun’anni s’indebitò per potersi permettere il suo primo safari in Africa con lo scopo di andare a conoscere Louis Leaky, paleoantropologo inglese, che credette in lei e le diede l’incarico di una ricerca studio a lungo termine sui gorilla di montagna. I monti dei Virunga a cavallo tra Rwanda e Zaire/Congo, una delle zone più infestate dalla violenza umana, sia sulle scimmie che sugli umani stessi (milioni di profughi e milioni di morti, intorno e attraverso quei monti).
Questo libro inizia con quattro pagine fitte fitte di ringraziamenti, che di solito vanno in coda: invece qui precedono, e i primi due grazie sono per chi le ha prestato i soldi per partire per l’Africa e poi ovviamente per Louis Leaky, il suo prezioso mentore.
Il film omonimo è del 1988, diretto da Michael Apted, con una buona interpretazione di Sigourney Weaver. Peccato che la sceneggiatura sembri scritta da quelli della Disney.
I gorilla studiati da Dian Fossey vivono sui monti dei Virunga intorno ai sei vulcani estinti, stando attenti a tenersi lontani dai due ancora attivi. Geograficamente la zona si divide tra Zaire, poi tornato a chiamarsi Congo, o meglio, Repubblica Democratica del Congo, e il Rwanda. Fossey iniziò la sua ricerca dallo Zaire/Congo e la concluse in Rwanda. In tutto per una quindicina d’anni (ma ha comunque dedicato la vita a questa ricerca).
In verità c’è anche una piccola frazione a nord che fa capo all’Uganda che Fossey seguì molto meno.
I gorilla di montagna erano un numero molto ristretto all’epoca della Fossey (poco più di duecento, lei ne censì 240) e se sono aumentati lo si deve solo alla sua battaglia (ora sembra che siano un migliaio). Quelli di pianura, i cugini, erano già all’epoca un po’ più numerosi, circa quattromila.
Le tre grandi scimmie, gorilla, oranghi e scimpanze sono gli unici primati senza coda, hanno mani e piedi con cinque dita, delle quali il primo opponibile (pollice?), trentadue denti (e quindi sorrisi ad altrettanti trentadue denti) e altri tratti fisici che li rendono prossimi all’uomo.
Il libro potrebbe essere noioso, o troppo tecnico: invece, risulta una lettura altamente emozionante, perfino travolgente, spesso anche commovente. Dipende dall’immenso fascino degli animali oggetto dello studio, e dalla personalità di Dian Fossey, la sua intelligenza e il suo amore senza confini per i gorilla.
Personalità che è stata criticata per certi modi spicci, per aver in qualche occasione anteposto gli animali agli uomini, per reazioni apparse esagerate (tipo prendere in ostaggio gli adolescenti di una tribù che metteva trappole nelle quali restavano uccisi anche i gorilla). Ma alcuni colleghi la criticavano anche perché la trovavano troppo indipendente ed esuberante, ma scarsamente metodica e canonica.
Quello che queste pagine trasmettono è il suo interesse sconfinato, la sua passione, il rispetto per gli animali e la natura. Che la portavano a trascorrere ore, giorni, settimane, forse perfino mesi pressoché immobile in prossimità dei gorilla per non spaventarli, abituarli alla sua presenza e conquistarne la fiducia. Che la portarono a combattere per salvaguardare i gorilla e il loro habitat, per proteggerlo e difenderlo dai bracconieri che uccidevano, o catturavano su commissione degli zoo di tutto il mondo.
E che la portarono a una morte orribile il 26 dicembre 1995: uccisa a colpi di un’arma molto simile al machete chiamata panga, per mani di qualcuno che molto probabilmente la conosceva bene. Il colpevole non è mai stato individuato. Ma neppure mai davvero cercato.
Fossey racconta così il primo incontro con il gorilla di montagna allo studio del quale ha dedicato la vita nel senso più letterale del termine:
Ci fermammo a una distanza di circa 5 metri e, attraverso il fogliame, scorgemmo facce come maschere di cuoio che ci fissavano con aria furiosa e inquisitrice; i loro occhi scintillanti sotto le spesse sopracciglia cercavano di individuare se fossimo amici o nemici. Fui immediatamente colpita da questi imponenti corpi neri che si distaccavano del verde inteso del fogliame... Fui catturata dalla loro personalità e dalla timidezza del loro comportamento.
January 17, 2012
Legendary anthropologist Louis Leakey believed that field study of the great apes, our closet living relatives, could yield important insights into the behavior of early hominids. He recruited Jane Goodall to study chimpanzees in the wild. Dian Fossey was his "gorilla girl" and in this memoir she "recounts some of the events of the thirteen years... spent with the mountain gorillas in their natural habitat." Two years after publishing this book in 1983, Fossey was murdered--the case still remains unsolved. I had read Jane Goodall's memoir, Reason for Hope, just before reading Fossey's book. With Goodall, I rather wished for more on the chimpanzees, and less on her spiritual and political beliefs. I certainly didn't have that complaint with Fossey, although in the end her book is less accessible and engaging. Much of Fossey's book is too detailed and dry for a layman and reads more like a scientific report complete with appendixes, bibliography and index. She was less willing to speculate than Goodall about what her observations of gorillas suggested about human nature. I learned far more about such things as the dung of the gorilla than I ever wanted to know. At the same time, the various gorillas she observed, such as Pablo, Puck and especially Digit, do come through as endearing personalities. And if you're not moved by the stories of Coco and Pucker in "Wild Orphans" you have no beating heart.
The probable reason for her murder also chillingly comes through. I don't recall Goodall having had much of a problem with poaching in Tanzania. Fossey's situation was quite different. One of three subspecies of gorilla, the mountain gorilla inhabits a narrow band of territory consisting of six dormant volcanoes running through Zaire, Rwanda and Uganda. Mountain gorillas had been discovered in 1902 and were expected to become extinct by the end of the same century. When Fossey wrote the preface to her book, she estimated the population of mountain gorillas at less than 250 individuals. As soon as Fossey hit the ground, she went to war with the hunters and herders using the reserve. She released caught prey, cut traplines, destroyed hunting equipment, confiscated weapons and helped capture men who then received long prison sentences for poaching. At one point she even kidnapped the ten-year-old son of a "leading poacher" to force him to stop. A cynical part of me wondered when I read that if Fossey would have become such a beloved heroine in the Western world had she done that to a European or American child. She deliberately "mixed herds...thus destroying long-cherished bloodlines between familial herds" of cattlemen whose families had been grazing in those areas for "at least four hundred years." And when her dog was taken, she stole and held hostage the cattle of herders who had nothing to do with it, threatening to kill one of the cattle each day until her dog was returned. That's what she admitted to.
After reading the book and wondering what had happened in the nearly 30 years since--and to find out what she hadn't told me--I went a-googling. I found this article from Entertainment Weekly about Hayes' The Dark Romance of Dian Fossey, based on over 200 interviews. The article, quoting Hayes, claimed that in "pursuit of her singular goal, the protection of the endangered mountain gorilla, Fossey had shot at her enemies, kidnapped their children, whipped them about the genitals, smeared them with ape dung, killed their cattle, [and] burned their property." Moreover, the article notes: "Had Fossey not been lucky enough to publicize the plight of the apes by getting her book on the best-seller lists, her efforts on behalf of these magnificent creatures could have done more harm than good. Hardly anybody in Rwanda, for example, doubts that some apes were slaughtered less for profit than as acts of revenge against the scientist herself." The good news at least is that, according to the Wiki, as "of Spring 2010, the estimated total number of mountain gorillas worldwide is 790." Not out of danger--but not extinct--and with a population that's grown three-fold in the last three decades. The irony is that as the Entertainment Weekly article pointed out, it's the success of the tourism Fossey opposed "that has protected the mountain apes, by making them worth infinitely more to Rwandans than the value of their habitat as crop land."
I can't help but compare Fossey's legacy--and the impression she made on me in her book--to that of Jane Goodall. In her opposition to animal research, Goodall didn't just hurl bricks, rhetorical or otherwise, from outside the walls. She didn't abuse those on the other side of the debate. She visited laboratories and sat down with researchers to convince them--to work with them to better the condition of experimental animals, and she tried to find common ground with those who disagreed with her. I have a very different worldview than Jane Goodall--but I ended her memoir feeling for her liking, respect, even admiration. With Fossey, by the end of her memoir and a little follow-up, it was a very different story.
The probable reason for her murder also chillingly comes through. I don't recall Goodall having had much of a problem with poaching in Tanzania. Fossey's situation was quite different. One of three subspecies of gorilla, the mountain gorilla inhabits a narrow band of territory consisting of six dormant volcanoes running through Zaire, Rwanda and Uganda. Mountain gorillas had been discovered in 1902 and were expected to become extinct by the end of the same century. When Fossey wrote the preface to her book, she estimated the population of mountain gorillas at less than 250 individuals. As soon as Fossey hit the ground, she went to war with the hunters and herders using the reserve. She released caught prey, cut traplines, destroyed hunting equipment, confiscated weapons and helped capture men who then received long prison sentences for poaching. At one point she even kidnapped the ten-year-old son of a "leading poacher" to force him to stop. A cynical part of me wondered when I read that if Fossey would have become such a beloved heroine in the Western world had she done that to a European or American child. She deliberately "mixed herds...thus destroying long-cherished bloodlines between familial herds" of cattlemen whose families had been grazing in those areas for "at least four hundred years." And when her dog was taken, she stole and held hostage the cattle of herders who had nothing to do with it, threatening to kill one of the cattle each day until her dog was returned. That's what she admitted to.
After reading the book and wondering what had happened in the nearly 30 years since--and to find out what she hadn't told me--I went a-googling. I found this article from Entertainment Weekly about Hayes' The Dark Romance of Dian Fossey, based on over 200 interviews. The article, quoting Hayes, claimed that in "pursuit of her singular goal, the protection of the endangered mountain gorilla, Fossey had shot at her enemies, kidnapped their children, whipped them about the genitals, smeared them with ape dung, killed their cattle, [and] burned their property." Moreover, the article notes: "Had Fossey not been lucky enough to publicize the plight of the apes by getting her book on the best-seller lists, her efforts on behalf of these magnificent creatures could have done more harm than good. Hardly anybody in Rwanda, for example, doubts that some apes were slaughtered less for profit than as acts of revenge against the scientist herself." The good news at least is that, according to the Wiki, as "of Spring 2010, the estimated total number of mountain gorillas worldwide is 790." Not out of danger--but not extinct--and with a population that's grown three-fold in the last three decades. The irony is that as the Entertainment Weekly article pointed out, it's the success of the tourism Fossey opposed "that has protected the mountain apes, by making them worth infinitely more to Rwandans than the value of their habitat as crop land."
I can't help but compare Fossey's legacy--and the impression she made on me in her book--to that of Jane Goodall. In her opposition to animal research, Goodall didn't just hurl bricks, rhetorical or otherwise, from outside the walls. She didn't abuse those on the other side of the debate. She visited laboratories and sat down with researchers to convince them--to work with them to better the condition of experimental animals, and she tried to find common ground with those who disagreed with her. I have a very different worldview than Jane Goodall--but I ended her memoir feeling for her liking, respect, even admiration. With Fossey, by the end of her memoir and a little follow-up, it was a very different story.
August 31, 2025
Trying to detach some of the more controversial issues about the author and her techniques - tales of bullying, abuse of local farmers, dealings with poachers - is difficult, but this book showcases Dian Fossey's genuine love of nature and the mountain gorillas she is trying to protect. The gorillas themselves are the stars, the strong familial bonds and inquisitive nature of this truly remarkable animal are endearing ro read about, alongside the horror of natural things such as infanticide and group rivalries. When you read of the horror inflicted by the poachers to these animals, you can understand why Fossey promoted such radical action to stop them. Knowing that Fossey herself was murdered 2 years after the book was published adds a poignancy to her plea to stop the killing. In the end, there is a sense of depression at the terrible and unthinking things that we humans do to our planet, each other and to the animals that are far more magnificent than we are.
July 9, 2020
Gorillas in the Mist tells of the thirteen years Dian Fossey spent studying mountain gorillas in their natural habitat—in the Parc des Virungas located in the predominantly dormant volcano range at the border of Rwanda, Uganda and Zaire. With the support of British paleoanthropologist Professor Louis Leakey (1903-1972), who had arranged studies of chimpanzees by Jane Goodall and orangutans by Birutė Galdikas, Fossey established the Karisoki Research Center. At the start this was simply two tents! The year was 1967. She had studied Swahili, but with the camp located in Rwanda, the language spoken was Kinwywanda. With the help of native Rwandans difficulties were surmounted. Here, between the three dormant volcanoes, Visoke and Karisimbi in Rwanda and Mikeno in Zaire, she tracked, counted, observed and lived beside free-ranging gorillas. They grew accustomed to her. To her they became intimate, close friends. Poachers became her nemesis. It was with their spears and arrows, their snares and nooses, her beloved gorillas were ensnared, cruelly disfigured and hurt. Often gruesomely killed. High-ups at European zoos and tourists became her enemies too. Conservation became her cause célèbre.
The book begins by providing relevant background information, for example on the Hutu / Tutsi conflict, the status of the Batwa people, Belgian and German colonialism in the area, the native belief in the supernatural and the words used for implements of daily use, foods and natural phenomena.
With background information provided, Fossey turns attention to the gorillas themselves. She speaks of their physical attributes, their eating, bedding, sexual and social behavior. Births and deaths. Mothering skills. Infanticide. The formation of the gorilla family groups and the relationships that develop between individuals. Every night she documented with a good old-fashioned typewriter what she had seen, experienced and ruminated upon during the day.
At the book’s core lies a scientific study. She gathers statistics and draws conclusions. The drawing of genealogical family trees was an essential part of the study. Fingerprints identify people, but nose prints are a better means by which to identify gorillas. Who would have known?! Body shapes, facial characteristics and behavioral patterns are passed from generation to generation too. Who begot whom, while simple for Fossey to keep track of, is not easy for a reader to keep straight. There are many gorillas mentioned! Comprehensive in its scope and with similar situations arising, the information becomes repetitive.
The author throws in both humorous and heart-wrenching incidents. Often, she deprecatingly points out and laughs at her own errors. She speaks of her pets—chickens, yes chickens, and her dog Cindy. Of a blue monkey and two infant gorillas she nursed back to health only to be forced . I preferred these personal stories more than the scientific data, but I completely understand the need for both.
The book concludes with an obligatory section devoted to the importance of conservation and a long list of acknowledgements.
This book was published two years prior to Dian Fossey’s unsolved murder at the camp. She was found dead in her cabin on December 27, 1985. She came to be buried at the Karisoke Research Center beside beloved gorillas, gorillas she had in the years passed and with deep sadness buried in close proximity to her cabin.
Penelope Rawlins narrates the audiobook very well. She narrates clearly and with feeling. Four stars for the narration. The audiobook includes a helpful PDF file including maps, genealogy charts and photos.
****************
*In the Kingdom of Gorillas: Fragile Species in a Dangerous Land TBR by Bill Weber
The book begins by providing relevant background information, for example on the Hutu / Tutsi conflict, the status of the Batwa people, Belgian and German colonialism in the area, the native belief in the supernatural and the words used for implements of daily use, foods and natural phenomena.
With background information provided, Fossey turns attention to the gorillas themselves. She speaks of their physical attributes, their eating, bedding, sexual and social behavior. Births and deaths. Mothering skills. Infanticide. The formation of the gorilla family groups and the relationships that develop between individuals. Every night she documented with a good old-fashioned typewriter what she had seen, experienced and ruminated upon during the day.
At the book’s core lies a scientific study. She gathers statistics and draws conclusions. The drawing of genealogical family trees was an essential part of the study. Fingerprints identify people, but nose prints are a better means by which to identify gorillas. Who would have known?! Body shapes, facial characteristics and behavioral patterns are passed from generation to generation too. Who begot whom, while simple for Fossey to keep track of, is not easy for a reader to keep straight. There are many gorillas mentioned! Comprehensive in its scope and with similar situations arising, the information becomes repetitive.
The author throws in both humorous and heart-wrenching incidents. Often, she deprecatingly points out and laughs at her own errors. She speaks of her pets—chickens, yes chickens, and her dog Cindy. Of a blue monkey and two infant gorillas she nursed back to health only to be forced . I preferred these personal stories more than the scientific data, but I completely understand the need for both.
The book concludes with an obligatory section devoted to the importance of conservation and a long list of acknowledgements.
This book was published two years prior to Dian Fossey’s unsolved murder at the camp. She was found dead in her cabin on December 27, 1985. She came to be buried at the Karisoke Research Center beside beloved gorillas, gorillas she had in the years passed and with deep sadness buried in close proximity to her cabin.
Penelope Rawlins narrates the audiobook very well. She narrates clearly and with feeling. Four stars for the narration. The audiobook includes a helpful PDF file including maps, genealogy charts and photos.
****************
*In the Kingdom of Gorillas: Fragile Species in a Dangerous Land TBR by Bill Weber
August 26, 2018
I enjoyed both the Nat Geo documentary and the film with Sigourney Weaver about Dian Fossey but her own story and the story of the gorillas based on her interactions with them is even more interesting.
Written before her murder somewhat eclipsed her story, it offers such detailed tales of each of the gorilla groups lives that you almost forget that Dian Fossey was sitting and observing these groups for years on end to put these dramatic narratives together.
I recently “adopted” a baby gorilla called Kundurwanda from Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund website. I’m so glad to see that her gruelling conservation work is still paying off and that there are still people dedicated to continuing her legacy.
Written before her murder somewhat eclipsed her story, it offers such detailed tales of each of the gorilla groups lives that you almost forget that Dian Fossey was sitting and observing these groups for years on end to put these dramatic narratives together.
I recently “adopted” a baby gorilla called Kundurwanda from Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund website. I’m so glad to see that her gruelling conservation work is still paying off and that there are still people dedicated to continuing her legacy.
November 16, 2015
3.5 stars
I can’t even begin to imagine how Dian Fossey lived for so many years in the mountains in Rwanda. I like my personal space and solitude, but that sounds a bit much, even for me! I also couldn’t understand how she could have so much information on several groups of gorillas (she’s only one woman - how did she manage to observe more than 4 groups of gorillas so closely with only the help of some trackers?), but this was answered toward the end of the book when she talked about students and assistants. I couldn't believe some of the effort that she and her team would go to at times - backtracking the gorilla trails to check night- and day-nests (I didn't know gorillas built nests!) for evidence of illness or still-births etc - especially since it often seemed to involve sorting through bags of gorilla dung to find what they were after!
It is also amazing to read of her passion and devotion to these animals (hence the ability to withstand the lonely location and basic facilities of her camp) and very sad to read of people who either deliberately set traps for gorillas or set traps for other animals which the gorillas can also get caught in.
I can’t even begin to imagine how Dian Fossey lived for so many years in the mountains in Rwanda. I like my personal space and solitude, but that sounds a bit much, even for me! I also couldn’t understand how she could have so much information on several groups of gorillas (she’s only one woman - how did she manage to observe more than 4 groups of gorillas so closely with only the help of some trackers?), but this was answered toward the end of the book when she talked about students and assistants. I couldn't believe some of the effort that she and her team would go to at times - backtracking the gorilla trails to check night- and day-nests (I didn't know gorillas built nests!) for evidence of illness or still-births etc - especially since it often seemed to involve sorting through bags of gorilla dung to find what they were after!
It is also amazing to read of her passion and devotion to these animals (hence the ability to withstand the lonely location and basic facilities of her camp) and very sad to read of people who either deliberately set traps for gorillas or set traps for other animals which the gorillas can also get caught in.
January 25, 2019
Recently some GR friends and I were discussing naturalists Darwin and Attenborough. Having discussed those two naturalists, I was better prepared to read Fossey's book.
Being the analytic reader I am, I made up an equation to better understand Fossey the naturalist:
Medical Background (physical therapist) + Naturalist + Primatologist + Conservationist + African Enculturation (Zaire, Uganda and Rwanda) = Much of My Limited Understanding of Fossey. 🤷♀️
Early in the book, Fossey writes of two (2) types of conservationism.
Active Conservationism. In active conservationism, park personnel are paid to be responsible for plant, animal, mineral, and infrastructure of park. This sort of conservation used to used by US Department of Parks and Recreation. I am thinking Protection and Control.
Theoretical Comservationism In theoretical conservationism, limited facilities allow tourists to engage with the wildlife, become charmed, and feel encouraged to provide money to support limited conservationist practices. I am thinking of Shockingky Poor Protection and Control.
Indeed, the gorillas in park areas of Karisoke which were as-best-as-possible protected by professional Western outsiders and camp support and park tracking workers from Rwanda often suffered because the owners of the park were three (3) separate countries--Ziare, Uganda, and Rwanda. These three (3) countries were struggling financially, politically, socially. The governments and their peoples had other challenges to deal with, challenges more imperative to their lives than the concern of the Web of Life.
To a large extent, the conservation situation created the problems Fossey helped gorillas deal with--as best she and others could.
* * * * *
As I mentioned above, Fossey was physical therapist before becoming a primatalogist and conservationist. Fossey was a therapist during time when therapists had more freedom to assess and address mobility problems of various sorts and also helped with wound care. So Fossey was able to assist/conduct medical and autospy exams. Sometimes Fossey was able to assess or even more rarely more directly address medical situations, such as wounds. A few times young rescue gorillas were in camp and were allowed to run around with the other camp animals to be encouraged and nutured by them.
Truly Impressive: Fossey helped a female child gorilla to return to free living.
So why 4 Stars and not 5. The writing style bothers me. A large lack of organization. Repeatedly Fossey backs and forths in her dates that I have to work harder to understand the happenings. Once I was at a loss as to what a proper name meant. I looked in the index--not included. The work is important to primates and to humanity's cousins that I have lowered my rating only some.
Although not a medical person, I was able to look over some of the diagrams in the appendix materials and understand big picture ideas.
Important and well enough done.
Being the analytic reader I am, I made up an equation to better understand Fossey the naturalist:
Medical Background (physical therapist) + Naturalist + Primatologist + Conservationist + African Enculturation (Zaire, Uganda and Rwanda) = Much of My Limited Understanding of Fossey. 🤷♀️
Early in the book, Fossey writes of two (2) types of conservationism.
Active Conservationism. In active conservationism, park personnel are paid to be responsible for plant, animal, mineral, and infrastructure of park. This sort of conservation used to used by US Department of Parks and Recreation. I am thinking Protection and Control.
Theoretical Comservationism In theoretical conservationism, limited facilities allow tourists to engage with the wildlife, become charmed, and feel encouraged to provide money to support limited conservationist practices. I am thinking of Shockingky Poor Protection and Control.
Indeed, the gorillas in park areas of Karisoke which were as-best-as-possible protected by professional Western outsiders and camp support and park tracking workers from Rwanda often suffered because the owners of the park were three (3) separate countries--Ziare, Uganda, and Rwanda. These three (3) countries were struggling financially, politically, socially. The governments and their peoples had other challenges to deal with, challenges more imperative to their lives than the concern of the Web of Life.
To a large extent, the conservation situation created the problems Fossey helped gorillas deal with--as best she and others could.
* * * * *
As I mentioned above, Fossey was physical therapist before becoming a primatalogist and conservationist. Fossey was a therapist during time when therapists had more freedom to assess and address mobility problems of various sorts and also helped with wound care. So Fossey was able to assist/conduct medical and autospy exams. Sometimes Fossey was able to assess or even more rarely more directly address medical situations, such as wounds. A few times young rescue gorillas were in camp and were allowed to run around with the other camp animals to be encouraged and nutured by them.
Truly Impressive: Fossey helped a female child gorilla to return to free living.
So why 4 Stars and not 5. The writing style bothers me. A large lack of organization. Repeatedly Fossey backs and forths in her dates that I have to work harder to understand the happenings. Once I was at a loss as to what a proper name meant. I looked in the index--not included. The work is important to primates and to humanity's cousins that I have lowered my rating only some.
Although not a medical person, I was able to look over some of the diagrams in the appendix materials and understand big picture ideas.
Important and well enough done.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 24, 2018
I've never been a big fan of primates, so I went into this book with low expectations, reading it solely because it allowed me to make progress on a challenge I wanted to finish before the end of the year. But Dian Fossey was a big fan of primates, especially the mountain gorillas of East Africa, and her passion and enthusiasm for some of our closest living relatives created a fascinating, often heartbreaking, book that I enjoyed despite myself.
Fossey was clearly a meticulous researcher, not to mention strong-willed and, if I correctly detected what was between the lines, somewhat abrasive, especially if she saw you as an obstacle to her No. 1 passion: studying and protecting mountain gorillas. Unfortunately for Fossey – and definitely so for the gorillas – there were a host of obstacles, almost all of them caused by poaching and encroaching.
Overall, this was a clear and engaging dive into a world I'd never really known existed. Fossey writes with a matter-of-fact prose that nevertheless draws the reader into caring for individual gorillas like Beethoven, Digit, Uncle Bert and Old Goat. Which makes the overall feel of the work all the more tragic. I don't think it's spoiling anything to say that in the struggle for survival between endangered species and human negligence, obstinance and cruelty, humans all too often come out on top. That's usually the case in Gorillas in the Mist as well, and Fossey does not spare us the details – nor should she. Eventually, it seems likely work like hers will be the only way to bring back these creatures after they recede into the mists forever.
Fossey was clearly a meticulous researcher, not to mention strong-willed and, if I correctly detected what was between the lines, somewhat abrasive, especially if she saw you as an obstacle to her No. 1 passion: studying and protecting mountain gorillas. Unfortunately for Fossey – and definitely so for the gorillas – there were a host of obstacles, almost all of them caused by poaching and encroaching.
Overall, this was a clear and engaging dive into a world I'd never really known existed. Fossey writes with a matter-of-fact prose that nevertheless draws the reader into caring for individual gorillas like Beethoven, Digit, Uncle Bert and Old Goat. Which makes the overall feel of the work all the more tragic. I don't think it's spoiling anything to say that in the struggle for survival between endangered species and human negligence, obstinance and cruelty, humans all too often come out on top. That's usually the case in Gorillas in the Mist as well, and Fossey does not spare us the details – nor should she. Eventually, it seems likely work like hers will be the only way to bring back these creatures after they recede into the mists forever.
August 4, 2019
Between the Majestic Mountains and the Shadow of Death
The book, Gorillas in the Mist, is built around the establishment of the Karisoke Research Center, the ecology of the Virungas, and a massive amount of study on Gorilla behavior. It provides a different view of Rwanda, rather than the human genocides. The writing is refreshingly authentic and the organization of the book and the revelation of the story has a logical flow and sequence. The reader may expect conservation politics but will not find it here. That is possibly what sets this book apart as being the ‘gold standard’ for ecology writing in my mind. Dian Fossey cared about animals. She was genuine. Her goal was to protect the gorillas she loved. There is nothing here about political party. Within the kaleidoscope of life and death, she did a beautiful job of maintaining and projecting a positive viewpoint of hope for the future, while actively working to bring that future to pass.
Fossey tells of an aged buffalo couple near death. They took refuge near the shelter of the Karisoke Refuge Center, since he was almost totally blind, and they could no longer flee from poachers. The male survived longer than his mate, until his death too came naturally.
When Fossey was first offered the ‘Gorilla-girl’ job, she was so excited that she willingly gave her dogs to friends, knowing she would never see them again. I thought this was indicative of how serious she was about the job. Most people who love dogs would find that difficult for any job. But, she soon had a collection of ‘pets’ at the Research Center. She had a hen and rooster (for eggs) that shared her tent. Later, after she moved from the tent to the cabin they built, she was given another dog that helped her nurse sick animals.
But, Dian Fossey’s work and the center took on a life of its own, beyond what was taking place there in the reserve. I think that she had a huge effect on the conservation of the wildlife, even when the rangers were not enforcing anti-poaching laws. They had their own agendas, and often corruption worked against the actual conservation effort. At one point, the Park department head asked Dian to help him capture a gorilla to give to a German ambassador who wanted a pair for a zoo. He was willing to give her a vehicle and money in exchange. (Yeah, right.) Of course, she said no. And, she explained the likelihood of mass slaughter when attempting to capture a gorilla, because the group would fight to the death to protect their own. Later, they had to call her to save the babies they had captured anyways. The babies were in bad shape after the slaughter of their group. She planned to release them into the wild as part of another group, but after they were recovered, the Park manager demanded them back to deliver them to Germany. He insisted that they would just capture more if she didn’t hand them over. This changed over the course of her work, and later in the book, the new director allowed her to release a baby saved from poachers back into a group successfully. This was a delicate affair, given the xenophobia of groups with young of their own.
It was because of her painful compromises that I felt like she was as diplomatic as possible in the circumstances. She provided money and uniforms and supplies to pay the park rangers to patrol for poachers. This did little good, and the rangers just sold the boots in town, and often took bribes from poachers. So, she used her research money to hire Africans to form citizen patrols.
The reader is instantly immersed in the lives of numerous gorilla ‘characters.’ They win your heart, as you experience the realities of their lives and deaths. The book is filled with beautiful photos of these gorillas. Some of them grace the inside cover front and back in a ‘line up’ of faces that portray the iconic nature of their personalities. You can see why a couple generations have grown to love this book. But, through the details of their lives and the many photos, the reader discovers photos of one in particular… Digit… who becomes famous through her photos before he is slaughtered by poachers. Within the book there are photos of Digit at every age, and you feel like you have lost someone when he dies. You feel the tragedy of his life being erased.
The way things are revealed is part of the treasure of the story. At one point, I thought I was seeing a mistake where she kept referring to one ape differently in different places. I had to stop and google for mistakes in the book, but couldn’t find any mentioned. Then I found where someone mentioned this particular ape and the secret that explains the confusion, which wouldn’t be revealed until later in the story. So, after spoiling that for myself, I won’t spoil it for you. Just know that she toys with the reader a bit sometimes, but all will be explained in due time.
The Research Center is situated in the saddle region between three of the volcanoes that are shared by the three countries of Rwanda, Uganda, and what was then called Zaire. Within this region she describes the geography and the different vegetation zones: The saddle, Vernonia, nettle, bamboo, brush, Giant Lobelia, and Afro-Alpine zones. She usually uses any scientific type vocabulary with the meaning of the word couched within the same sentence in a very down-to-earth type of writing. So it is easy to understand. She marches a variety of animals; bushbuck, buffalo, elephants, duikers, into the story one by one, creating a simple backdrop of characters around "...the gorillas of the misted mountains. " She describes the key trees that the gorillas live from: the Hagenia, (~70’) the Hypericum, (~40-60’) and the Vernonia, (~20-30’) along with the parasitical plant Laranthus, which is a member of the mistletoe family. I felt like you were given just enough information to feel like you’ve learned something, without being overwhelmed.
Fossey even introduces a couple of the key players, like Mutarutkwa, a cattleman and Munyarukiko, a poacher. So, even though it is non-fiction, it is written with the flair of a storyteller. And, in the telling, she gives a variety of interesting facts about the country of Rwanda and the mountain gorilla population. It was interesting comparing these stats to today’s numbers after I finished the book. You can see that her work has made a big difference. Here is a link to a good video on Youtube.
I enjoyed the abundance of information about the mountain gorillas themselves. They spend 40% of their day resting, 30% feeding, and 30% traveling/ feeding. And, they are quite family/ group oriented creatures. They are diurnal and build a different nest every night. They also have a day nest for a mid-day siesta. Though the young try to build their own nests, they usually end up in their Mama’s nest.
Overall, the reader will learn a lot about gorilla behavior, like the paternal and maternal instinct, group interactions, encounters between different groups, mating, the roles and treatment of the females, the caring for children, and how they deal with poachers and life and death. The book includes a few family trees of the different groups followed, and a good map, as well as the countless photos.
I read this in what appears to be a good used hardback of the first edition. It is certainly a book worth re-reading in the future. I highly recommend this for anyone who loves nature and animals. This was my stop in Rwanda on my Journey Around the World for 2019. It is a quick read because I read it almost straight through, having finished it a couple days ago. Of course, I couldn’t stop looking at the pictures after that long enough to write this review until now. My next stop is Burundi.
The book, Gorillas in the Mist, is built around the establishment of the Karisoke Research Center, the ecology of the Virungas, and a massive amount of study on Gorilla behavior. It provides a different view of Rwanda, rather than the human genocides. The writing is refreshingly authentic and the organization of the book and the revelation of the story has a logical flow and sequence. The reader may expect conservation politics but will not find it here. That is possibly what sets this book apart as being the ‘gold standard’ for ecology writing in my mind. Dian Fossey cared about animals. She was genuine. Her goal was to protect the gorillas she loved. There is nothing here about political party. Within the kaleidoscope of life and death, she did a beautiful job of maintaining and projecting a positive viewpoint of hope for the future, while actively working to bring that future to pass.
"That day's contact was also meaningful in that Puck had retained his grudge against me for a two-hour period. I considered this remarkable because of the length of time involved and wondered just how long gorillas, who live in a group structure, maintain their resentment toward one another after disputes or minor differences."
Fossey tells of an aged buffalo couple near death. They took refuge near the shelter of the Karisoke Refuge Center, since he was almost totally blind, and they could no longer flee from poachers. The male survived longer than his mate, until his death too came naturally.
"Early one morning the woodman found the old buffalo's body lying in a small grassy hollow next to Camp Creek under the towering silhouettes of Mts. Karisimbi and Mikeno. I could not imagine a more fitting spot for Mzee's final resting place. The serenity of the surroundings matched the dignity of the bull's character. Although he had lived in the shadow of poachers, he had managed to defy them in death."
When Fossey was first offered the ‘Gorilla-girl’ job, she was so excited that she willingly gave her dogs to friends, knowing she would never see them again. I thought this was indicative of how serious she was about the job. Most people who love dogs would find that difficult for any job. But, she soon had a collection of ‘pets’ at the Research Center. She had a hen and rooster (for eggs) that shared her tent. Later, after she moved from the tent to the cabin they built, she was given another dog that helped her nurse sick animals.
"There was no way that I could explain to dogs, friends, or parents my compelling need to return to Africa to launch a long-term study of the gorillas."
"Walter was no ordinary rooster. Every morning, much like a dog, he followed me into the field several hundred feet from camp. Every afternoon he would come running to meet me with greeting clucks. At night he roosted on the carriage of my typewriter, never fluttering a feather while being shuttled back and forth across the keyboard."
But, Dian Fossey’s work and the center took on a life of its own, beyond what was taking place there in the reserve. I think that she had a huge effect on the conservation of the wildlife, even when the rangers were not enforcing anti-poaching laws. They had their own agendas, and often corruption worked against the actual conservation effort. At one point, the Park department head asked Dian to help him capture a gorilla to give to a German ambassador who wanted a pair for a zoo. He was willing to give her a vehicle and money in exchange. (Yeah, right.) Of course, she said no. And, she explained the likelihood of mass slaughter when attempting to capture a gorilla, because the group would fight to the death to protect their own. Later, they had to call her to save the babies they had captured anyways. The babies were in bad shape after the slaughter of their group. She planned to release them into the wild as part of another group, but after they were recovered, the Park manager demanded them back to deliver them to Germany. He insisted that they would just capture more if she didn’t hand them over. This changed over the course of her work, and later in the book, the new director allowed her to release a baby saved from poachers back into a group successfully. This was a delicate affair, given the xenophobia of groups with young of their own.
"The Rwandese park Director in Kigali had been informed of Bonne Annee's arrival as well as of my intention to introduce her into a free-living group once she recovered from the trauma of capture and poacher confinement. I was pleased with the acceptance of my decision. The enforcement of legislation, both in Rwanda and abroad, had come a long way since 1969, when Coco and Pucker were exploited as pawns traded between Rwanda and Germany."
It was because of her painful compromises that I felt like she was as diplomatic as possible in the circumstances. She provided money and uniforms and supplies to pay the park rangers to patrol for poachers. This did little good, and the rangers just sold the boots in town, and often took bribes from poachers. So, she used her research money to hire Africans to form citizen patrols.
"The black night skies faded into those of a gray-misted dawn when I realized that, Iike Ian, I did not want Digit to have died in vain. I decided to launch the Digit Fund to support active conservation of gorillas, the money only to be used to expand antipoacher foot patrols within the park. This would involve recruitment, training, outfitting, and remuneration of Africans willing to work long tedious hours cutting down traplines and confiscating poacher weapons such as spears, bows, and arrows."
The reader is instantly immersed in the lives of numerous gorilla ‘characters.’ They win your heart, as you experience the realities of their lives and deaths. The book is filled with beautiful photos of these gorillas. Some of them grace the inside cover front and back in a ‘line up’ of faces that portray the iconic nature of their personalities. You can see why a couple generations have grown to love this book. But, through the details of their lives and the many photos, the reader discovers photos of one in particular… Digit… who becomes famous through her photos before he is slaughtered by poachers. Within the book there are photos of Digit at every age, and you feel like you have lost someone when he dies. You feel the tragedy of his life being erased.
The way things are revealed is part of the treasure of the story. At one point, I thought I was seeing a mistake where she kept referring to one ape differently in different places. I had to stop and google for mistakes in the book, but couldn’t find any mentioned. Then I found where someone mentioned this particular ape and the secret that explains the confusion, which wouldn’t be revealed until later in the story. So, after spoiling that for myself, I won’t spoil it for you. Just know that she toys with the reader a bit sometimes, but all will be explained in due time.
The Research Center is situated in the saddle region between three of the volcanoes that are shared by the three countries of Rwanda, Uganda, and what was then called Zaire. Within this region she describes the geography and the different vegetation zones: The saddle, Vernonia, nettle, bamboo, brush, Giant Lobelia, and Afro-Alpine zones. She usually uses any scientific type vocabulary with the meaning of the word couched within the same sentence in a very down-to-earth type of writing. So it is easy to understand. She marches a variety of animals; bushbuck, buffalo, elephants, duikers, into the story one by one, creating a simple backdrop of characters around "...the gorillas of the misted mountains. " She describes the key trees that the gorillas live from: the Hagenia, (~70’) the Hypericum, (~40-60’) and the Vernonia, (~20-30’) along with the parasitical plant Laranthus, which is a member of the mistletoe family. I felt like you were given just enough information to feel like you’ve learned something, without being overwhelmed.
"Poppy was Group 5's 'little darling.' There was something winsome and appealing about her. She could do no wrong. Unlike Pablo, she was not interested in alien objects within her environment. Discarded bird nests held a special fascination for her. They could be beaten against her body or on the ground until nothing but shreds remained. She also enjoyed laboriously plucking nests apart strand by strand for the same result. Poppy occasionally liked to perch daintily on the laps of observers, as if wanting to be cuddled. Usually whenever she 'honored' myself or students with her attention, we received pig-grunts or threatening stares from Beethoven, Effie, and other group members. More often than not, Beethoven would leave his nesting site to come to Poppy and gently butt her away from us with his massive head. The younger group members, Puck, Tuck, Quince, and Pablo, were equally concerned when Poppy had settled with observers and would often retrieve her to carry back to their midst. Such group supervision of Poppy was in marked contrast to the animals' lack of interest whenever the adventurous Pablo was interacting with humans."
Fossey even introduces a couple of the key players, like Mutarutkwa, a cattleman and Munyarukiko, a poacher. So, even though it is non-fiction, it is written with the flair of a storyteller. And, in the telling, she gives a variety of interesting facts about the country of Rwanda and the mountain gorilla population. It was interesting comparing these stats to today’s numbers after I finished the book. You can see that her work has made a big difference. Here is a link to a good video on Youtube.
"The seasonal return of Group 5 to the edge of the park boundary always interests the villagers. They gather together yelling "Ngagi! Ngagi! - 'Gorilla! Gorilla!' On this day Group 5, after a brief stare, left Jambo Bluff to carry on with their feeding and the Africans returned to their hoeing. However, when I climbed onto the bluff to follow the group, a new outbreak of screams and shouts came from the people below. 'Nyiramachabelli! Nyiraachabelli!' they cried, meaning 'The old lady who lives in the forest without a man.'"
I enjoyed the abundance of information about the mountain gorillas themselves. They spend 40% of their day resting, 30% feeding, and 30% traveling/ feeding. And, they are quite family/ group oriented creatures. They are diurnal and build a different nest every night. They also have a day nest for a mid-day siesta. Though the young try to build their own nests, they usually end up in their Mama’s nest.
"Nests built by immatures are often flimsy clusters of leaves until practice enables the construction of a solid, serviceable nest. The youngest animal observed consistently building and sleeping within his own night nest was thirty-four months old. Ordinarily a youngster remains sleeping in the mother's nest until the female again gives birth."
Overall, the reader will learn a lot about gorilla behavior, like the paternal and maternal instinct, group interactions, encounters between different groups, mating, the roles and treatment of the females, the caring for children, and how they deal with poachers and life and death. The book includes a few family trees of the different groups followed, and a good map, as well as the countless photos.
I read this in what appears to be a good used hardback of the first edition. It is certainly a book worth re-reading in the future. I highly recommend this for anyone who loves nature and animals. This was my stop in Rwanda on my Journey Around the World for 2019. It is a quick read because I read it almost straight through, having finished it a couple days ago. Of course, I couldn’t stop looking at the pictures after that long enough to write this review until now. My next stop is Burundi.
March 2, 2009
A lovely book that shows how the love of nature can overwhelm even a trained scientist. Not really a scientific book per se, although there is some good science in the book, especially early on. But a story of passion and a love affair with nature.
August 10, 2021
Dian Fossey's groundbreaking research on the mountain gorillas of Uganda and Rwanda began in 1967 and continued until her death in 1985. This book was published just two years before she was murdered by poachers at her research station in Volcanoes Parc in Rwanda.
This book is well written but it uses a diary like format that at times plods along and at times is too cathartic for my maximum enjoyment. Since there are so many gorillas to keep track of in the book there are only a few of these relationships that I could take to heart.
In comparison to another primate specialist, I would say that Jane Goodall is a better writer. But Fossey's story is pretty remarkable.
It should be noted that when this book was written there were only 200 mountain gorillas in the wild. Largely because of Fossey's conservation efforts in Rwanda over eighteen years (1967-1985) there are nearly 2,000 mountain gorillas that live in the wild today.
What makes the book so special? Dian Fossey's almost single minded devotion to her research and the calculated risks that she took. The world needs more Dian Fosseys!
4 stars.
This book is well written but it uses a diary like format that at times plods along and at times is too cathartic for my maximum enjoyment. Since there are so many gorillas to keep track of in the book there are only a few of these relationships that I could take to heart.
In comparison to another primate specialist, I would say that Jane Goodall is a better writer. But Fossey's story is pretty remarkable.
It should be noted that when this book was written there were only 200 mountain gorillas in the wild. Largely because of Fossey's conservation efforts in Rwanda over eighteen years (1967-1985) there are nearly 2,000 mountain gorillas that live in the wild today.
What makes the book so special? Dian Fossey's almost single minded devotion to her research and the calculated risks that she took. The world needs more Dian Fosseys!
4 stars.
December 24, 2025
3.5/5
My primatology professor gave this to me after my final. Nice book, especially for those new to primatology. After reading this, which was an easy and quick read, I found out Dian Fossey was murdered in Rwanda ;(. A very unique human experience that should be recognized more.
My primatology professor gave this to me after my final. Nice book, especially for those new to primatology. After reading this, which was an easy and quick read, I found out Dian Fossey was murdered in Rwanda ;(. A very unique human experience that should be recognized more.
September 1, 2016
Although Ms Fossey keeps telling us we should not anthropomorphise the gorillas, she does so constantly - which is endearing, rather than annoying, in this case - and keeping in mind the chronological context of her memoir also. In fact, in some ways the more loose standards of field work then were more humane than what happens now - and to decide the ethicality of any set of standards applied to field work can only come down to individual ethics for the armchair reader; today there is a set of standards and that is what has to be followed regardless of whether you are pro or anti intervention if the subject being studied is in crisis etc etc Personally I would find it as hard to walk away and leave an animal to die 'naturally' as I would find it with a human. Which I often have to do cos we're not allowed to kill suffering humans and them are the rules. Which would bring us to the vexed question of euthanasia if I allowed my mind to pursue this gambit so I had better not let it! (I don't agree with suicide/euthanasia personally but I also don't believe I have the right to make that decision for anyone else so you get to make your own rules, baby.....and if that's not a cute piece of sophistical squirming, I can't do any better....la la la....)
I have recently realised that I love this sort of memoir. Throughout reading my mind kept drifting to the later issues and conflicts in Rwanda and I wonder how the gorillas are. I guess Cologne Zoo has changed it's ethical standards since the issue related herein. I certainly hope so! The more I see of how animals are treated the less I believe that, with all the box ticking that goes on now, anything has changed for the better.
“If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.”
― Francis of Assisi
I have recently realised that I love this sort of memoir. Throughout reading my mind kept drifting to the later issues and conflicts in Rwanda and I wonder how the gorillas are. I guess Cologne Zoo has changed it's ethical standards since the issue related herein. I certainly hope so! The more I see of how animals are treated the less I believe that, with all the box ticking that goes on now, anything has changed for the better.
“If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.”
― Francis of Assisi
September 18, 2007
The legendary autobiographical account of Dian Fossey and her passionate quest to study and save the few remaining mountain gorillas from extinction. I am glad that I read this book AFTER our own mountain gorilla trek, because I was able to connect with her commentary regarding the jungle, the local culture, and the trekking experience more completely. The book is a bit confusing with regards to timeline, but Fossey's strength of character and heroism clearly showed through. I would recommend this to anyone interested in zoology, botany, and especially, conservation ecology.
April 22, 2020
In 1967, Dian Fossey went on her very first trip to Africa. There were two main objectives for her trip: one, to go to the Congo (later Zaire) and see the mountain gorillas of the Virunga volcanic peaks; two, to meet the famous Dr Louis Leakey. That trip was the first step towards Fossey’s setting out to observe mountain gorillas, and to subsequently set up the Karisoke Research Center in the Virungas. Her story is documented here, in Gorillas in the Mist.
This memoir is split into 12 chapters, not quite chronological (more on that later) and each roughly devoted to one or more of the groups of gorillas that inhabit the study area covered by Karisoke. Fossey explains how she came to set up this organization, how it’s evolved over the years, what are the challenges and obstacles it faces, what are its triumphs, and what it—as well as the countries (Rwanda, Zaire and Uganda) that form the Virungas area—needs to do in order to save mountain gorillas from extinction.
And, of course, there is what forms the bulk of the book: her observations of the gorillas. Fossey goes deep into detail about almost everything she saw and documented regarding the gorillas of Virunga. Each group, their dynamics, their relationships (she gave names to every individual gorilla, even, on occasion, having to resort to a name like Beetsme when she couldn’t, initially, figure out the sex of a gorilla). Her descriptions are amazingly absorbing and enlightening, and she balances her objective, very scientific self excellently with the humane person who is very depressed when a gorilla dies, or who is tempted to reach out and hug a baby gorilla which shows affection (a temptation she invariably resists, even when the gorillas have become ‘habituated’, because it might cause behavioural problems in the gorilla).
She talks about the problems of poaching and corruption, of misguided campaigns to take mountain gorillas off to zoos, even when there’s no chance of a breeding programme in place. She also discusses, with a great deal of sensitivity (which arises out of seeing the situation up close) of the problem of choosing between conservation and a burgeoning, poverty-stricken population in Rwanda, the main home of the mountain gorilla.
I found this book utterly engrossing and informative. I learnt a lot about gorillas and their habitat, and all of it written in a very readable, often humorous, always empathetic style. The family trees at the beginning of the book, each depicting one group of gorillas studied by Karisoke, are a handy reference. And the plethora of photos are the icing on the cake.
I had only one grouse: because Gorillas in the Mist isn’t written in a completely chronological fashion, there are often puzzling gaps that get resolved only much later in the narrative. For instance, shortly after she’s described her first gorilla sighting, Fossey goes on to talk of making physical contact with gorillas: having a baby gorilla touch her, and so on. The leap here—from a tentative contact with a species that is very leery of humans, to a trusting physical contact—comes suddenly and without progression, leaving one wondering exactly how that came about. Similarly, Fossey goes from talking about being alone, with only a few African assistants and trackers to help, to talking about students observing gorillas. Again, with no connect between how the situation changed.
In both cases, the progression is explained, but many, many pages ahead.
Barring that, though (which I think a good editor could have attended to), this is a superb book. And it’s heartening to know that, in large part thanks to Dian Fossey’s and Karisoke’s work, the mountain gorilla population has gone up from less than 300 (when the book was written) to almost 1000 at present.
This memoir is split into 12 chapters, not quite chronological (more on that later) and each roughly devoted to one or more of the groups of gorillas that inhabit the study area covered by Karisoke. Fossey explains how she came to set up this organization, how it’s evolved over the years, what are the challenges and obstacles it faces, what are its triumphs, and what it—as well as the countries (Rwanda, Zaire and Uganda) that form the Virungas area—needs to do in order to save mountain gorillas from extinction.
And, of course, there is what forms the bulk of the book: her observations of the gorillas. Fossey goes deep into detail about almost everything she saw and documented regarding the gorillas of Virunga. Each group, their dynamics, their relationships (she gave names to every individual gorilla, even, on occasion, having to resort to a name like Beetsme when she couldn’t, initially, figure out the sex of a gorilla). Her descriptions are amazingly absorbing and enlightening, and she balances her objective, very scientific self excellently with the humane person who is very depressed when a gorilla dies, or who is tempted to reach out and hug a baby gorilla which shows affection (a temptation she invariably resists, even when the gorillas have become ‘habituated’, because it might cause behavioural problems in the gorilla).
She talks about the problems of poaching and corruption, of misguided campaigns to take mountain gorillas off to zoos, even when there’s no chance of a breeding programme in place. She also discusses, with a great deal of sensitivity (which arises out of seeing the situation up close) of the problem of choosing between conservation and a burgeoning, poverty-stricken population in Rwanda, the main home of the mountain gorilla.
I found this book utterly engrossing and informative. I learnt a lot about gorillas and their habitat, and all of it written in a very readable, often humorous, always empathetic style. The family trees at the beginning of the book, each depicting one group of gorillas studied by Karisoke, are a handy reference. And the plethora of photos are the icing on the cake.
I had only one grouse: because Gorillas in the Mist isn’t written in a completely chronological fashion, there are often puzzling gaps that get resolved only much later in the narrative. For instance, shortly after she’s described her first gorilla sighting, Fossey goes on to talk of making physical contact with gorillas: having a baby gorilla touch her, and so on. The leap here—from a tentative contact with a species that is very leery of humans, to a trusting physical contact—comes suddenly and without progression, leaving one wondering exactly how that came about. Similarly, Fossey goes from talking about being alone, with only a few African assistants and trackers to help, to talking about students observing gorillas. Again, with no connect between how the situation changed.
In both cases, the progression is explained, but many, many pages ahead.
Barring that, though (which I think a good editor could have attended to), this is a superb book. And it’s heartening to know that, in large part thanks to Dian Fossey’s and Karisoke’s work, the mountain gorilla population has gone up from less than 300 (when the book was written) to almost 1000 at present.
April 6, 2018
Much like when I reviewed Jane Goodall's In the Shadow of Man, I quickly fell in love with the gorillas that Dian Fossey describes in exquisite detail in her book Gorillas in the Mist. (You may have heard of it.) Dr. Fossey moved to the Virungas of Africa (Zaire, Uganda, and Rwanda) to study the mountain gorillas that lived there. That study ended up taking nearly 20 years. However, she wasn't only studying the habits of the gorillas but also the parasites, environment (rainfall), vegetation, and the other animals that lived there (elephants, buffalo, duiker). (Basically, whatever she and her team could study they did to increase their chances of getting more grant money and lengthening their stay.) One of the things that Fossey stressed was that it would take more than passive conservation (tourism) to keep the mountain gorillas alive and thriving. She found that active conservation was the only way to go which meant that she had to employ staff to track down poacher's lairs and destroy their supplies and traps. Basically, she was a bada$$ of the highest caliber and the surrounding villagers had a nickname for her (it wasn't sweet lady of the mountain either). She quickly earned a reputation for not backing down and for doing everything within her power to protect these creatures from imminent extinction (which is looking more and more likely). Between poachers, population encroachment, and decreasing territory for the different gorilla groups there were only 242 mountain gorillas left at the end of her nearly two decade study. There are even less now. Fossey's fervent desire was that governments and the people governed by them would want to conserve these animals because they lived in the area providing the only fresh water source for the region. However, deforestation to make way for increasing numbers of people and farms continued no matter what arguments she put forth. I had heard about this book and its movie adaptation before but it wasn't until I saw Ellen DeGeneres talking about it (on her birthday episode) that I decided to finally pick up the book. I am so glad that I did. Even if you only read the appendices (which are absolutely phenomenal) you'd learn so much about these amazing animals and the land they inhabit. You'd also bear witness to the dedication and passion which Fossey had for her research. I highly recommend you pick up a copy of Gorillas in the Mist and afterward that you do further research into Fossey because it makes it all the more poignant and meaningful (at least it did for me). 10/10
April 15, 2020
After each display, the gorillas would look at us quizzically as if trying to determine the effect of their show. It was their individuality combined with the shyness of their behavior that remained the most captivating impression of this first encounter with the greatest of the great apes. I left Kabara with reluctance but with never a doubt that I would, somehow, return to learn more about the gorillas of the mist mountains.
December 31, 2017
Everybody should read this book!
February 11, 2024
The American anthropologist Dian Fossey has spent thirteen years on scientific research into endangered mountain gorillas in the heart of Africa. Among her detailed research findings, there is plenty of room for her experiences to be described in a slightly more light-hearted tone, always with her love for animals at the forefront. It is in itself admirable how decisively and energetically she has committed herself to this specific form of nature conservation. Sometimes she shows herself to be double, where on the one hand she allows the gorillas to live as undisturbed as possible and on the other hand lends herself and one of the gorillas to a poster that is distributed worldwide with the known aim of attracting tourists to her research center who want to have a look at the gorillas on site. And one wonders whether she has always applied sufficient tact in the bitter battle with poachers.
What dominates, in my opinion, is the respect for her tireless efforts to protect the mountain gorilla and the large amount of data she has collected through all the observations and sometimes difficult mountain treks. The tone of writing is usually quite objectified; sometimes emotion comes through. The scientific work predominates, the autobiographical elements that also permeate the book make the book highly digestible for the interested reader. JM
What dominates, in my opinion, is the respect for her tireless efforts to protect the mountain gorilla and the large amount of data she has collected through all the observations and sometimes difficult mountain treks. The tone of writing is usually quite objectified; sometimes emotion comes through. The scientific work predominates, the autobiographical elements that also permeate the book make the book highly digestible for the interested reader. JM
August 31, 2012
From 1966 until her death in 1985 Dian Fossey studied the mountain gorillas of the Virunga mountains which extend along the borders of Zaire(known today as the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Rwanda and Uganda. Gorillas in the Mist is Fossey's chronicle of her time spent with the gorillas from 1966 until it was published in 1983.
She began her studies in Zaire but was expelled in 1967 and spent the rest of her time in Rwanda at their national Parc des Volcans at the Karisoke Research Centre which Fossey established. Fossey states "one of the greatest drawbacks of the Virungas is that it is shared by three countries each of which has problems far more urgent than the protection of wild animals."
Gorillas in the Mist provides not just a wonderful picture and insight into the lives of the gorillas, but into the mind of this rare woman who worked with them. Dian was an uncompromising forest who fought like a tiger about what she believed in and held others who she worked with to the same high standard. She typed her field notes on a daily basis and expected the others who she worked with to do the same.
Dian had a great love of animals not just her gorillas. She kept chickens for their eggs but treated them like pets with one of them roosting on the carriage of her typewriter as she typed. When her pet dog is kidnapped by poachers she rustles cattle belonging to villagers and holds them hostage until her dog is returned. When a gorilla is found dead she perfomers and autopsy and then buries them in the gorilla graveyard at the Karisoke research center and this is where she eventually rests. She dedicated the book to some of her favorite gorillas who had died.
Dian was in a fierce and unrelenting war with poachers. She galvanized the Africans who worked with her to go onregular missions to eliminate and destroy the traps set by poachers, not just those which would harm gorillas but would harm any animal. Despite this, many of the gorillas she loved met their fate at the hands of poachers.
Dian was a truly amazing fearless woman who did much to raise awareness and an understanding of the mountain gorillas.
With the gift of hindsight and knowledge of the eventual fate of Dian and the three countries which border the Virungas, the book provides a sad and eerie journey.
She began her studies in Zaire but was expelled in 1967 and spent the rest of her time in Rwanda at their national Parc des Volcans at the Karisoke Research Centre which Fossey established. Fossey states "one of the greatest drawbacks of the Virungas is that it is shared by three countries each of which has problems far more urgent than the protection of wild animals."
Gorillas in the Mist provides not just a wonderful picture and insight into the lives of the gorillas, but into the mind of this rare woman who worked with them. Dian was an uncompromising forest who fought like a tiger about what she believed in and held others who she worked with to the same high standard. She typed her field notes on a daily basis and expected the others who she worked with to do the same.
Dian had a great love of animals not just her gorillas. She kept chickens for their eggs but treated them like pets with one of them roosting on the carriage of her typewriter as she typed. When her pet dog is kidnapped by poachers she rustles cattle belonging to villagers and holds them hostage until her dog is returned. When a gorilla is found dead she perfomers and autopsy and then buries them in the gorilla graveyard at the Karisoke research center and this is where she eventually rests. She dedicated the book to some of her favorite gorillas who had died.
Dian was in a fierce and unrelenting war with poachers. She galvanized the Africans who worked with her to go onregular missions to eliminate and destroy the traps set by poachers, not just those which would harm gorillas but would harm any animal. Despite this, many of the gorillas she loved met their fate at the hands of poachers.
Dian was a truly amazing fearless woman who did much to raise awareness and an understanding of the mountain gorillas.
With the gift of hindsight and knowledge of the eventual fate of Dian and the three countries which border the Virungas, the book provides a sad and eerie journey.
January 8, 2024
I enjoyed this book but it did feel like the last part of the book took forever and was quite repetitive. Dian does a great job of writing to make you feel like you’re in the field with her but she’s lacking some form of formal editing. At some points it just feels like you’re reading detailed field notes or in depth descriptions of every part of her interactions while studying gorillas. A lot of her observations between the two groups feel similar and although she states that she tries to not project human feelings onto the gorillas and their behaviors, she does this quite a lot.
I felt like I learned a lot about mountain gorillas and the amazing feats researches will endure to study and learn more about animals in the field. It was interesting to take a look at a species so closely related to us but so different at the same time. It was hard and humbling to have to confront my humanity through reading about how these mammals engaged in certain behaviors such as infanticide and abuse of others in their groups and others. Which is turn prompted me to think about evolution and how humans are running around with basically lizard brains in a mostly civilized world.
If she had condensed some of the interactions between groups and focused on behaviors of mountain gorillas as a whole instead of an overly detailed account of different gorilla groups interactions I think I would have enjoyed this a lot more.
It’s a good read that was very insightful but in my opinion with the intense detail and lack of flow was a hard one to read.
I felt like I learned a lot about mountain gorillas and the amazing feats researches will endure to study and learn more about animals in the field. It was interesting to take a look at a species so closely related to us but so different at the same time. It was hard and humbling to have to confront my humanity through reading about how these mammals engaged in certain behaviors such as infanticide and abuse of others in their groups and others. Which is turn prompted me to think about evolution and how humans are running around with basically lizard brains in a mostly civilized world.
If she had condensed some of the interactions between groups and focused on behaviors of mountain gorillas as a whole instead of an overly detailed account of different gorilla groups interactions I think I would have enjoyed this a lot more.
It’s a good read that was very insightful but in my opinion with the intense detail and lack of flow was a hard one to read.
January 21, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Picked this book up on a whim at the library. Was always on my back burner to learn more about Jane Goodall and Diane Fossey and their work with the great apes.
This was a super interesting read. Dian Fossey spent thirteen
years (1968 to 1981) living in the Virunga Mountains area in Africa which includes the border regions of both Rwanda and Zaire. There she studied the mountain gorillas following in the footsteps of George Schaller who had studied the great apes there for several years in the early ‘60’s.
There was a lot of scientific jargon interspersed into the stories of the four major gorilla families that Ms. Fossey was able to track and study. So a lot of vocabulary building! Learning about the mountain gorillas’ world and family structure held a lot of appeal for me.
According to Ms. Fossey, the official mountain gorilla count was 240 in 1980. The Virunga Mountain Range is their only natural habitat in the entire world. A quick google search states that there are now 1063 remaining in the wild. A true testimonial to her life’s work and efforts to improve the odds of mountain gorillas’ survival.
One small complaint - the photographs in my paperback copy were all black and
white pictures. Can’t help but wonder if there’s some deluxe hard copy version out there with full color photos.
The 52 Book Club Reading Challenge - 2023
Prompt #3 - Title starting with the letter “G”
Picked this book up on a whim at the library. Was always on my back burner to learn more about Jane Goodall and Diane Fossey and their work with the great apes.
This was a super interesting read. Dian Fossey spent thirteen
years (1968 to 1981) living in the Virunga Mountains area in Africa which includes the border regions of both Rwanda and Zaire. There she studied the mountain gorillas following in the footsteps of George Schaller who had studied the great apes there for several years in the early ‘60’s.
There was a lot of scientific jargon interspersed into the stories of the four major gorilla families that Ms. Fossey was able to track and study. So a lot of vocabulary building! Learning about the mountain gorillas’ world and family structure held a lot of appeal for me.
According to Ms. Fossey, the official mountain gorilla count was 240 in 1980. The Virunga Mountain Range is their only natural habitat in the entire world. A quick google search states that there are now 1063 remaining in the wild. A true testimonial to her life’s work and efforts to improve the odds of mountain gorillas’ survival.
One small complaint - the photographs in my paperback copy were all black and
white pictures. Can’t help but wonder if there’s some deluxe hard copy version out there with full color photos.
The 52 Book Club Reading Challenge - 2023
Prompt #3 - Title starting with the letter “G”
June 1, 2022
Fascinating to read about the behavior and lives of the gorillas and even some of the tales from the Karisoke camp, but Dian Fossey's colonial behavior at times cannot be ignored. Conservation acts in lands we are not native to should be considerate of its own people.
I can't gloss over the part where she admits to kidnapping a ten year old child to negotiate with the poachers. Or her direct interference with the Rwandan practices of herding that had been happening alongside the gorillas for generations, but simply had to abruptly stop to save the mountain vegetation.
For a reader with a big interest in conservation, I see this book as a guide with practices that are still very applicable and others that are examples of what definitely not to do.
I can't gloss over the part where she admits to kidnapping a ten year old child to negotiate with the poachers. Or her direct interference with the Rwandan practices of herding that had been happening alongside the gorillas for generations, but simply had to abruptly stop to save the mountain vegetation.
For a reader with a big interest in conservation, I see this book as a guide with practices that are still very applicable and others that are examples of what definitely not to do.
February 1, 2015
HERBACEOUS FOLIAGE!
Anyone who knows anything about Fossey and her research knows the highlights (or lowlights, as the most memorable are also the saddest) of her story. This really gives a closer look at the day-to-day and the way Fossey worked from her own point of view. It's understood straight away that she feels strongly, very, no extremely strongly. She beats you over the head with what her views are, how she thinks things should be done in regards to conservation, and how they should not. This book is largely personal and intimate in regards to individual gorillas and that is where it succeeds best. She endears the reader to the gorillas as creatures both mysterious and yet so very like us in many ways. Fossey also provides a lot of solidly scientific information, but it's the points of endearment and contention that are the most compelling in her writing.
Chronologically this book is a mess. There seems to be little regard for the explanation of when. Normally I don't mind a little play with the chronology, but I do mind when it is not purposeful. I also left with a feeling that Dian had a hard time seeing past herself. Through her writing I got the sense that she was not the most receptive to anything except that which supported the conclusions that she had already reached - though perhaps this is a bit unfair.
Dian Fossey was a champion for the gorillas and in the end it would seem that her passion in their conservation most likely was the cause for her own murder. This was of coarse not part of the book, but I feel it necessary to pay tribute at this point to the passionate woman that gave everything to her cause.
Anyone who knows anything about Fossey and her research knows the highlights (or lowlights, as the most memorable are also the saddest) of her story. This really gives a closer look at the day-to-day and the way Fossey worked from her own point of view. It's understood straight away that she feels strongly, very, no extremely strongly. She beats you over the head with what her views are, how she thinks things should be done in regards to conservation, and how they should not. This book is largely personal and intimate in regards to individual gorillas and that is where it succeeds best. She endears the reader to the gorillas as creatures both mysterious and yet so very like us in many ways. Fossey also provides a lot of solidly scientific information, but it's the points of endearment and contention that are the most compelling in her writing.
Chronologically this book is a mess. There seems to be little regard for the explanation of when. Normally I don't mind a little play with the chronology, but I do mind when it is not purposeful. I also left with a feeling that Dian had a hard time seeing past herself. Through her writing I got the sense that she was not the most receptive to anything except that which supported the conclusions that she had already reached - though perhaps this is a bit unfair.
Dian Fossey was a champion for the gorillas and in the end it would seem that her passion in their conservation most likely was the cause for her own murder. This was of coarse not part of the book, but I feel it necessary to pay tribute at this point to the passionate woman that gave everything to her cause.
April 26, 2022
Read this in book form found at bargain thrift. Loved it. Was enthralled with the lives of the gorillas. Unique insight into humans without making very many comparisons. Dian's approach was imperfect for sure, didn't always love her dealings with the poachers. Felt her love of gorillas and her anger, frustration, heartbreak with each death. Yes, it was very scientific but the animals had their own stories and drama that made this fun to read.
May 9, 2021
After watching Dian Fossey's film 'Gorillas in the Mist', I found a new interest in the Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda, Zaire and Uganda and decided that this was a must read. Fossey's fight against poachers, corruption and other threats the gorillas face will forever hold a special place in my heart. A book i'd recommend to everyone!
February 13, 2017
A fascinating look at Dian Fossey's work with gorillas, but don't read it while you're eating (like I did)-- there's one spot where she talks about a certain bodily function of gorillas that's rather gaggish.
September 7, 2022
As a pioneer I sometimes did endure loneliness, but I have reaped a tremendous satisfaction that followers will never be able to know. (pg. 25)
Prior to reading Gorillas in the Mist, I knew little about Dian Fossey save for her status as the Jane Goodall of gorillas and her brutal and mysterious death in Rwanda, likely at the hands of poachers. With her memoir behind me, the most interesting question is not who killed Fossey, but how she survived for as long as she did.
Fossey’s single-mindedness in studying wild gorillas manifests itself in courageous behavior bordering on the insane: escaping from (what was then) Zaire by fleeing to Uganda, kidnapping the son of a prominent poacher as a negotiating chip, destroying poacher traps, confronting silverbacks, and more. It’s miraculous she wasn’t killed by human or animal sooner.
Fossey was a white woman from Kentucky who didn’t speak the native languages and who inserted herself into the Virungas to study gorillas, her only previous experience with the species being a safari. It would be easy to dismiss her conflicts with the locals as ignorance or stupidity of a young woman naively wanting to study charismatic megafauna.
On the contrary, one of the most striking things about Gorillas in the Mist is Fossey’s self-awareness, empathy for the Rwandese, and acute understanding of human behavior. All her actions are motivated by a single maxim: “one cannot compromise on conservation goals within established park areas.”
Here is her excellent articulation of the tension between Gorilla gorilla conservation and the daily survival needs of Homo sapiens in third world countries:
That Fossey does not strawman the arguments of her rivals but engages with their legitimate concerns on the tradeoffs involved in conservation strengthens her own position. When Fossey establishes the Karisoke Research center in the existing Parc des Volcans in Rwanda in 1967, she must actively fight the encroachment of not just poachers but also Tutsi clans’ cattle, whose grazing was decimating the vegetation the gorillas needed. Fossey understands the multi-generational ties these families and their cattle have to the park land, but she makes the difficult decision to insist they take their cattle outside park boundaries, going so far as to mix up the herds belonging to several Tutsi clans. This meanuever was so destructive because it “destroyed long-cherished bloodlines between distinct familial herds.” She acknowledges this was a “repugnant” action on her part but defends it on the grounds of law enforcement.
I believe what made Fossey a threat to the poachers went beyond mere destruction of their traps. She possessed a combination of shrewdness and cynicism that allowed her to quickly learn from her mistakes and predict the second and third order effects of human behavior. For example, when one of the chimpanzees she loves most, Digit, is killed by poachers, she agonizes over whether to publicize his death. Donations it generated would likely be spent corruptly by the Rwandan officials, and she doesn’t see the publicity giving her more leverage to pressure the government to imprison poachers. In the end, heart trumps head, and she starts the Digit Fund for active conservation, with any funds to be used exclusively on anti-poacher foot patrols. But when six months later, two more gorillas from Digit’s group are killed by poachers, she concludes the publicity of Digit’s death and subsequent profits it generated for the officials may have incentivized further slaughter. This time around, she refuses the reporters access to the gorillas’ bodies.
Despite this book being largely about the gorillas of Virunga, I found myself significantly more interested in Fossey, a fascinating, anomalous woman. She endured loneliness and solitude coupled with minimalist conditions and long, arduous days that would have crushed most people. Indeed, the initial field assistants sent to her by National Geographic were totally unprepared for life at Karisoke, and many didn’t make it more than a few days. Corruption was rife, and allies were hard to come by. The park guards were regularly bribed by the poachers to hunt in the park, and the park Conservator bartered captured gorillas with European zoos on several occasions.
Against this backdrop, Fossey’s successes in studying gorillas and decreasing poaching are exceptional.
Also published as Gorillas in the Mist: A Review on kinetic.reviews.
Prior to reading Gorillas in the Mist, I knew little about Dian Fossey save for her status as the Jane Goodall of gorillas and her brutal and mysterious death in Rwanda, likely at the hands of poachers. With her memoir behind me, the most interesting question is not who killed Fossey, but how she survived for as long as she did.
Fossey’s single-mindedness in studying wild gorillas manifests itself in courageous behavior bordering on the insane: escaping from (what was then) Zaire by fleeing to Uganda, kidnapping the son of a prominent poacher as a negotiating chip, destroying poacher traps, confronting silverbacks, and more. It’s miraculous she wasn’t killed by human or animal sooner.
Fossey was a white woman from Kentucky who didn’t speak the native languages and who inserted herself into the Virungas to study gorillas, her only previous experience with the species being a safari. It would be easy to dismiss her conflicts with the locals as ignorance or stupidity of a young woman naively wanting to study charismatic megafauna.
On the contrary, one of the most striking things about Gorillas in the Mist is Fossey’s self-awareness, empathy for the Rwandese, and acute understanding of human behavior. All her actions are motivated by a single maxim: “one cannot compromise on conservation goals within established park areas.”
Here is her excellent articulation of the tension between Gorilla gorilla conservation and the daily survival needs of Homo sapiens in third world countries:
Foreigners cannot expect the average Rwandan living near the boundaries of the Parc des Volcans and raising pyrethrum for the equivalent of four cents a pound to look around at the towering volcanoes, consider their majestic beauty, and express concern about an endangered animal species living in those misted mountains. Much as a European might see a mirage when stranded in a desert, a Rwandan sees rows upon rows of potatoes, beans, peas, corn, and tobacco in place of the massive Hagenia trees. He justifiably resents being refused access to parkland for realization of his vision. (pg. 239)
That Fossey does not strawman the arguments of her rivals but engages with their legitimate concerns on the tradeoffs involved in conservation strengthens her own position. When Fossey establishes the Karisoke Research center in the existing Parc des Volcans in Rwanda in 1967, she must actively fight the encroachment of not just poachers but also Tutsi clans’ cattle, whose grazing was decimating the vegetation the gorillas needed. Fossey understands the multi-generational ties these families and their cattle have to the park land, but she makes the difficult decision to insist they take their cattle outside park boundaries, going so far as to mix up the herds belonging to several Tutsi clans. This meanuever was so destructive because it “destroyed long-cherished bloodlines between distinct familial herds.” She acknowledges this was a “repugnant” action on her part but defends it on the grounds of law enforcement.
I believe what made Fossey a threat to the poachers went beyond mere destruction of their traps. She possessed a combination of shrewdness and cynicism that allowed her to quickly learn from her mistakes and predict the second and third order effects of human behavior. For example, when one of the chimpanzees she loves most, Digit, is killed by poachers, she agonizes over whether to publicize his death. Donations it generated would likely be spent corruptly by the Rwandan officials, and she doesn’t see the publicity giving her more leverage to pressure the government to imprison poachers. In the end, heart trumps head, and she starts the Digit Fund for active conservation, with any funds to be used exclusively on anti-poacher foot patrols. But when six months later, two more gorillas from Digit’s group are killed by poachers, she concludes the publicity of Digit’s death and subsequent profits it generated for the officials may have incentivized further slaughter. This time around, she refuses the reporters access to the gorillas’ bodies.
Despite this book being largely about the gorillas of Virunga, I found myself significantly more interested in Fossey, a fascinating, anomalous woman. She endured loneliness and solitude coupled with minimalist conditions and long, arduous days that would have crushed most people. Indeed, the initial field assistants sent to her by National Geographic were totally unprepared for life at Karisoke, and many didn’t make it more than a few days. Corruption was rife, and allies were hard to come by. The park guards were regularly bribed by the poachers to hunt in the park, and the park Conservator bartered captured gorillas with European zoos on several occasions.
Against this backdrop, Fossey’s successes in studying gorillas and decreasing poaching are exceptional.
Also published as Gorillas in the Mist: A Review on kinetic.reviews.
November 8, 2011
Gorillas in the mist written by Diane Fossy was a true eye opener, Fossy did a great job at explaining all her research and clearly explain what was happening to the gorillas. She explains perfectly to a sense that she is giving facts but makes it interesting. I really got a true sense of how much Fossy really loves these animals.
Fossy first became intrigued by gorillas in 1973 when she took her first safari to Africa. Her only goal for that trip was to visit the gorillas and meet Mary and Louis Leakey. After she returned to the USA all she wanted was to go back to Africa and study the gorillas in a way the Jane Goodall did with the chimpanzees. After giving away everything she owned, she started her 13 year study of gorillas in the Virungas Mountains.
I never knew how gorillas lived their daily life and how the survive. It’s not easy to survive but somehow they do. On a daily basis gorillas have to deal with hazords such a poachers. If caught in the traps the animals are almost guaranteed a horrible death. The poachers almost took over the forest and all the animals. Thanks to all of Fossy efforts the gorillas didn’t go extinct. The gorillas also had to deal with the natural hazords such as the search for food, water and a safe place to sleep.
Fossy not only loved the gorillas but would help any animal she came in contact with. At one of the later times in her research she came in contact with a little injured monkey. This monkey became a close companion of Fossys until its death. I have a true respect Fossy because of her commitment to helping all the animals in the Virungas Mountains.
There were many times in this book that I would stop and think of how Fossy was able to interact with the gorillas and make them feel comfortable in her presence. I love the fact that she never wanted harm to an animal. I am a true believer in not harming any animals and I could relate to Fossy. She loved these animals so much that all gorillas she came in contact with an own personal name.
Fossy first became intrigued by gorillas in 1973 when she took her first safari to Africa. Her only goal for that trip was to visit the gorillas and meet Mary and Louis Leakey. After she returned to the USA all she wanted was to go back to Africa and study the gorillas in a way the Jane Goodall did with the chimpanzees. After giving away everything she owned, she started her 13 year study of gorillas in the Virungas Mountains.
I never knew how gorillas lived their daily life and how the survive. It’s not easy to survive but somehow they do. On a daily basis gorillas have to deal with hazords such a poachers. If caught in the traps the animals are almost guaranteed a horrible death. The poachers almost took over the forest and all the animals. Thanks to all of Fossy efforts the gorillas didn’t go extinct. The gorillas also had to deal with the natural hazords such as the search for food, water and a safe place to sleep.
Fossy not only loved the gorillas but would help any animal she came in contact with. At one of the later times in her research she came in contact with a little injured monkey. This monkey became a close companion of Fossys until its death. I have a true respect Fossy because of her commitment to helping all the animals in the Virungas Mountains.
There were many times in this book that I would stop and think of how Fossy was able to interact with the gorillas and make them feel comfortable in her presence. I love the fact that she never wanted harm to an animal. I am a true believer in not harming any animals and I could relate to Fossy. She loved these animals so much that all gorillas she came in contact with an own personal name.
October 8, 2022
This book took me quite a while to get through. It’s pretty heavy and sometimes tough to read. I’m no scientist, or conservationist, but I found the book interesting and compelling in many ways. It is ultimately the tragedy which stands out to me more than the triumph.
I think Dian Fossey made Mountain gorilla conservation her life in an obsessive, and perhaps extreme manner, but it’s a fact that her work did lay the groundwork for the refinement and continuation of her efforts. One may or may not agree with her methods, but her contribution to the understanding of Mountain gorillas cannot be dismissed.
I read this book in preparation for a trip to Uganda to participate in a gorilla trek in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. I realize Dian hated tourism, but it is tourism that has helped provide sone of the funding needed to save this species. According to our ranger, there are now approximately 900-1000 Mountain gorillas, as of the last census in 2019. While this number is low, and these amazing creatures remain on the endangered species list, I see this as a small victory and a testament to Dian Fossey’s efforts.
This is not a book for everyone, but I loved it and was pleased to recognize much of what she observed during my trek.
I think Dian Fossey made Mountain gorilla conservation her life in an obsessive, and perhaps extreme manner, but it’s a fact that her work did lay the groundwork for the refinement and continuation of her efforts. One may or may not agree with her methods, but her contribution to the understanding of Mountain gorillas cannot be dismissed.
I read this book in preparation for a trip to Uganda to participate in a gorilla trek in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. I realize Dian hated tourism, but it is tourism that has helped provide sone of the funding needed to save this species. According to our ranger, there are now approximately 900-1000 Mountain gorillas, as of the last census in 2019. While this number is low, and these amazing creatures remain on the endangered species list, I see this as a small victory and a testament to Dian Fossey’s efforts.
This is not a book for everyone, but I loved it and was pleased to recognize much of what she observed during my trek.
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