Dian Fossey at Work
Dian Fossey on the Cover of National Geographic
Date: January 1970
In three years of studying the mountain gorilla in the Rwandan jungles, primatologist Dian Fossey had learned that the best way to get close to her skittish subjects was to try to fit in. So when a young blackback she called "Peanuts" approached her one morning she acted like a gorilla, loudly scratching her scalp and leaning casually back into the dense foliage.
She slowly extended a hand. And then, after contemplating it for a moment, Peanuts did some none of his species had ever done before: he reached out and touched her fingers with his own.
They sat for a moment, holding hands, until "he stood and gave vent to his excitement by a whirling chest beat, then went off to rejoin his group," she said in her journal. "I expressed my own happy excitement by crying..."
Peanuts and Fossey were not alone that morning. National Geographic photographer Bob Campbell, who had been documenting Fossey's research activities in Rwanda since 1968, was just out of view. His photo became the magazine's cover story in early 1970 and brought enormous public interest to Fossey's cause.
Fossey used her newfound fame to draw attention to the need for conservation and protection of her endangered subjects. But her compassion for the gorilla lead to contempt for humans, particularly poachers and government officials who wanted to exploit the animals for financial gain. Fossy was found brutally murdered in her cabin at Karisoke Research Center two days after Christmas 1985.
--From Defining Moments in History
She slowly extended a hand. And then, after contemplating it for a moment, Peanuts did some none of his species had ever done before: he reached out and touched her fingers with his own.
They sat for a moment, holding hands, until "he stood and gave vent to his excitement by a whirling chest beat, then went off to rejoin his group," she said in her journal. "I expressed my own happy excitement by crying..."
Peanuts and Fossey were not alone that morning. National Geographic photographer Bob Campbell, who had been documenting Fossey's research activities in Rwanda since 1968, was just out of view. His photo became the magazine's cover story in early 1970 and brought enormous public interest to Fossey's cause.
Fossey used her newfound fame to draw attention to the need for conservation and protection of her endangered subjects. But her compassion for the gorilla lead to contempt for humans, particularly poachers and government officials who wanted to exploit the animals for financial gain. Fossy was found brutally murdered in her cabin at Karisoke Research Center two days after Christmas 1985.
--From Defining Moments in History
