Today, We Honor the Memory of Dr. Dian Fossey
By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Thursday, December 26th, 2013 in Blog, Uncategorized.On this day 28 years ago, the world’s most famous gorilla researcher, Dr. Dian Fossey, was murdered in her cabin at the former Karisoke Research Center site in the misty Virunga Volcanoes of Rwanda. Before her death Fossey realized that, with just 248 mountain gorillas left in the wild, the population needed a dedicated veterinarian to treat sick and injured gorillas or they would not survive. Just a few short weeks after her death, Fossey’s friend and fellow wildlife enthusiast Ruth Morris Keesling of the Morris Animal Foundation hired Dr. James Foster – the very first Gorilla Doctor – and he moved to Rwanda to set up the Centre Veterinaire des Volcans. For more about Dr. Foster and the history of Gorilla Doctors, go to the Gorilla Doctors history webpage.
Today, we honor the memory of Dian and the many brave men and women who have paid the ultimate price for gorilla conservation.
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