FOSSEY, DIAN

(b. San Francisco, California, 16 January 1932; d. Karisoke, Rwanda, 26 December 1985),

primatology, primate conservation.

Significantly extending and expanding the work of George Schaller, Fossey conducted long-term field studies of gorilla behavior and passionately advocated for gorilla conservation. Along with Jane Goodall and Biruté Galdikas, Fossey attracted extensive media coverage for her primate field studies and thus significantly shaped public understanding of primatology and primate conservation.

Dian Fossey and L. S. B. Leakey . Dian Fossey, daughter of George and Kitty Fossey, was passionate about wildlife throughout her childhood. She began her career in the field of primatology in 1967 through an unorthodox route. After meeting Fossey in 1963 and again in 1966, L. S. B. Leakey began to discuss with her the possibility of studying primates in the wild. During these discussions, Leakey commented that it was risky for a person to have an appendix intact when embarking on a long field study. This comment was not meant seriously. By this time, Leakey’s choice of Jane Goodall, a woman without formal scientific training, for a field study of chimpanzees in Gombe, Tanzania, had already shown signs of success, and he agreed to send Fossey to the Parc des Virungas in Zaire to study mountain gorillas.

Like Goodall, Fossey embarked on her field study without a formal science degree. Fossey had failed to gain a degree in veterinary medicine from the University of California at Davis and transferred to San Jose College where she gained a BA degree in physical therapy in 1954. This initial lack of scientific training did not concern Leakey, who believed women uniquely possessed the patience required for long-term field studies and that those without formal scientific training could combine this patience with a lack of bias in terms of their observation of primate behavior.

Once Fossey arrived in Zaire in 1967, her courage and determination helped her survive. Her study of existing primatological literature and relationships with indigenous peoples taught her how to track and observe gorillas. Fossey first studied gorillas in Kabara in the Parc des Virungas, Zaire, for over six months in 1967. Following this experience, she established the Karisoke Research Center in the Parc des Volcans, Rwanda. She spent almost her entire remaining life studying gorillas in Karisoke, leaving only to gain her PhD in 1976 from Cambridge University under the guidance of ethologist Robert A. Hinde and again in 1980 to briefly teach at Cornell University. She was murdered in Karisoke in 1985.

Field Methods . As recounted in Fossey’s 1983 book, Gorillas in the Mist, preparations for the field included reading existing primatological literature and studying Swahili. Leakey ensured financial support for the research by securing funds from the Wilkie Foundation and helped to arrange for Fossey to spend two days with Jane Goodall at the Gombe Stream Research Center where Fossey observed methods of data collection and the logistical arrangements required for long-term field research. However, by far the most significant influences on the methods adopted by Fossey were George Schaller and indigenous trackers such as Sanwekwe, Nemeye, and Rwelekana.

Schaller of the University of Wisconsin had studied gorilla behavior in Parc Albert in the Virunga Volcanoes between 1959 and 1960. This was the same site, albeit later renamed, that was used by Fossey in the initial months of her study. After a series of failed attempts to observe gorillas in other locations, Schaller selected this site due to the height and density of the vegetation which made conditions “ideal” for prolonged observation of gorilla behavior.

Together with John Emlen from the University of Wisconsin, and their wives, Schaller shattered assumptions about the impossibility of making prolonged scientific observations of gorillas in the wild by successfully observing gorilla behavior for over four hundred and fifty hours. Indigenous peoples provided instruction to Schaller and Emlen concerning how to track gorillas by observing bends in blades of grass, imprints in the soil, and scat. Once able to track gorillas, they made regular observations of certain groups. This consistent observation resulted in six groups becoming habituated, meaning their behavior was deemed essentially unaffected by the presence of the observer. Fossey identified at least some of these habituated gorilla groups as the subjects of her own field research while in Kabara in 1967.

Fossey used similar methods to Schaller in terms of tracking and observing gorillas. She also adopted Schaller’s technique of identifying individuals according to sketches of their nose prints. The sheer length of Fossey’s field study and her desire to be accepted by the gorillas that composed her study groups led to her application of mimicry to habituate the gorillas. Fossey would mimic vocalizations, eating, and grooming behaviors as part of her habituation of gorillas and her long-term study of their behaviors. She would, for example, make “contentment vocalizations” and also beat her chest. Although not entirely new, Fossey applied the imitation of gorilla behaviors more extensively than past researchers, who had generally restricted themselves to the imitation of vocalizations. Descriptions of this imitation method formed a central part of her popular National Geographic articles, ensuring that Fossey would become well known for enabling prolonged observation of gorillas by adopting their behaviors.

Her study of gorilla behavior from 1967 to 1985 also involved extensive use of indigenous peoples and indigenous knowledge. Like Schaller and others, Fossey hired local people as trackers and guides. As the length of her field study extended and her involvement in conservation developed, local people became increasingly necessary for the logistic running of the research site and patrolling of the park to deter poachers. Despite these contributions to primate conservation, it would be the role of indigenous peoples as the hunters, rather than protectors, of gorillas that would be most highlighted by the popular articles and books written by, and about, Fossey. Any form of indigenous assistance in Fossey’s long-term field research is barely identifiable in her PhD dissertation and while certain individuals are mentioned for the help they provided to Fossey

in her well-read 1983 book, Gorillas in the Mist, the local people in general are personified as poachers.

This negative depiction of Africa and Africans in contrast to Fossey’s positive contributions to gorilla conservation is located by historian James Krasner within the context of the 1970s and 1980s, a time in which Krasner and others believe Africa continued to be commonly viewed as uncivilized. Krasner argues that, “Fossey’s appeal to the reader is?constructed along deeply conservative lines: Africa is a dark and dangerous place; gorillas are threatened because they live in Africa; white people must save the gorillas by carrying enlightened ideas about animal preservation into the darkness, thus saving the animals from the primitive natives and from themselves” (Krasner, 1997, pp. 240–241). Such discussion of representations of, and by, Fossey in popular culture reveals much about the interaction between science, the media, and the public. However, the contributions she made to the science of primatology have received less historical attention.

Intellectual Contributions . Fossey’s research both built upon existing knowledge of gorilla behavior and extensively extended it. While Fossey’s own research benefited from the site location and methodology of Schaller and Emlen’s collaborative field study of 1959–1960, for example, Fossey’s work also directly continued, and in some cases revised, the conclusions set forth in Schaller’s publications. In his 1963 book, The Mountain Gorilla, Schaller presented basic and previously unknown information concerning gorillas in the wild. Fossey’s PhD dissertation, based on her work in Parc des Virungas, Zaire, and Parc des Volcans, Rwanda, discusses Schaller’s conclusions in some depth, providing answers to questions he raised concerning concepts such as immigration and emigration and particularly the ways in which females transfer between groups.

Such questions could not be answered without the kind of long-term primate field study that Fossey provided. Through close study of a number of habituated groups, Fossey identified “home groups” as those composed of individuals born into cohesive and relatively stable groups. In contrast, “transfer groups” were formed by a female joining a silverback male and were relatively unstable. It was apparently always the females, rather than the males, that would transfer to a different group. As demonstrated by Fossey’s 1984 article, these prolonged observations of group interaction would contribute to the growing understanding of primate reproductive behavior, including the phenomenon of infanticide, which emerged during the 1980s.

Fossey’s extensive observation of gorillas, including the observation of individual gorillas from birth, also provided the evidence needed to revise Schaller’s age/sex classification system. Schaller had relied on captive observations, and Fossey determined that he had generally under-aged individuals. Furthermore, she extended the potential life expectancy of gorillas in the wild to sixty years, whereas Schaller had estimated that wild gorillas would live around thirty years, an assumption again based on captive studies. Schaller had also provided extensive verbal descriptions of gorilla vocalizations but made few recordings of these vocalizations because he had only limited access to a tape recorder. Fossey, however, was able to conduct a study of gorilla vocalizations with recordings made from November 1968 to December 1969. For the first time, spectrographs were made of gorilla vocalizations, and the estimated number of distinct gorilla vocalizations was reduced from the twenty-one identified by Schaller to sixteen or seventeen.

Primate Conservation . Fossey also continued Schaller’s work of conducting a census of gorillas in order to track population dynamics. Working with Alexander Harcourt, Kelly Stewart, and Alan Goodall (no relation to Jane Goodall), she conducted censuses at several points during the 1970s and again in 1981. These censuses demonstrated that the gorilla population in the Parc des Volcans was drastically declining. Encroachment on gorilla habitat and poaching were central reasons for this decline, and Fossey went on to dedicate the rest of her life to protecting the gorillas of the Virunga Volcanoes.

Fossey’s pursuit of what she termed “active conservation” has been seen by some as relatively distinct from her science and by others as an extension of her methodology. In the beginning, Fossey’s interest in studying gorillas was motivated by her hope that through scientific research humans would learn to better protect gorillas. However, this hope faded during the course of her time in Africa and was replaced by an emphasis on conservation at the cost, some have argued, of her scientific activity. The form of conservation Fossey would come to advocate was what Donna Haraway called “anarchist direct action” (1989, p. 265). Rather than pursue education and tourism as means to improve gorilla survival in the wild, Fossey established patrols to prevent poaching and used tactics of imprisonment and physical punishment when poachers were caught. Over time, the description of these conservation activities became increasingly central in her popular publications. The death of Digit, a gorilla that Fossey was particularly attached to, at the hands of poachers came to personify the need for gorilla conservation. His beheaded body was pictured in National Geographic and Gorillas in the Mist, and Fossey honored him by forming the Digit Fund in 1978. This organization would go on to become the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, a conservation group that continued into the early 2000s to raise money and organize efforts to protect gorillas.

It is perhaps all too easy to emphasize Fossey’s contribution to primate conservation at the expense of discussion of her intellectual contributions to the science of primatology. Mary Ann McClure has sought to characterize Fossey’s conservation and science, and that of other female primatologists such as Jane Goodall, as one in which the formation of caring relationships with the primates studied formed the core of their science. Thus, rather than defining science on the basis of detachment and objectivity, McClure understands the form of primatology practiced by Fossey as one based on connection. This argument provides a refreshing perspective that contrasts with the more common interpretation of Fossey and her methods, namely that by imitating gorilla behavior and becoming intensely emotionally invested in gorilla society Fossey sought to become one of them so to speak, and, in turn abandoned the science of primatology for conservation.

Fossey’s at times unorthodox methods, including her punishment of poachers and emotional connection with the gorillas she studied, and her long since unsolved murder in 1985 while in Rwanda have led to much public discussion of her private life. She has been the subject of articles in magazines from National Geographic to Vogue and of films on the small and large screen. As such, both directly and indirectly, Fossey has been a significant force in shaping popular understanding of primatology. Particularly powerful is the way in which she created a popular consciousness for the plight of wild gorillas and their need for protection. Thus, as Fossey’s legacy is reflected upon, it is clear that she significantly contributed both to science and conservation. Primatology benefited from her ability to endure many years of fieldwork and in turn reveal new knowledge concerning gorilla behavior, while primate conservation gained great momentum from the combination of Fossey’s bravery and ability to attract and hold the public’s attention.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

WORKS BY FOSSEY

“Making Friends with Mountain Gorillas.” National Geographic 137 (1970): 48–67.

“More Years with Mountain Gorillas.” National Geographic 140 (1971): 574–585.

“Living with Mountain Gorillas.” In The Marvels of Animal Behavior, edited by T. B. Allen. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 1972.

“Vocalizations of the Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla beringei).” Animal Behaviour 20 (1972): 36–53.

“Observation of the Home Range of One Group of Mountain Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla beringei).” Animal Behaviour 22 (1974): 568–581.

“The Behaviour of the Mountain Gorilla.” PhD diss., Cambridge University, 1976.

“A Grim Struggle for Survival: The Imperiled Mountain Gorilla.” National Geographic 159 (1981): 501–523.

Gorillas in the Mist. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1983.

“Infanticide in Mountain Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla beringei) with Comparative Notes on Chimpanzees.” In Infanticide: Comparative and Evolutionary Perspectives, edited by Glenn Hausfater and Sarah Blaffer Hrdy. New York: Aldine, 1984.

“His Name Was Digit.” International Primate Protection League Newsletter 13 (1986): 10–15.

OTHER SOURCES

Haraway, Donna. Primate Visions: Gender, Race, and Nature in the World of Modern Science. New York: Routledge, 1989.

Krasner, James. “‘Ape Ladies’ and Cultural Politics: Dian Fossey and Biruté Galdikas.” In Natural Eloquence: Women Reinscribe Science, edited by Barbara T. Gates and Ann B. Shteir. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1997.

McClure, Mary Ann. “A Passion to Connect: The Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Gladikas.” Research in Philosophy and Technology 16 (1997): 49–60.

Montgomery, Sy. Walking with the Great Apes. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1991.

Morell, Virginia. “Called ‘Trimates,’ Three Bold Women Shaped Their Field.” Science260, no. 5106 (April 1993): 420–425.

Mowat, Farley. Woman in the Mists. New York: Farley Mowat Limited, 1987.

Schaller, George B. The Mountain Gorilla: Ecology and Behavior. Chicago: University of Chicago, 1963.

———. The Year of the Gorilla. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964. Reprinted with a new forward. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988.

Strum, Shirley C., and Linda Marie Fedigan, eds. Primate Encounters: Models of Science, Gender and Society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.

Georgina M. Montgomery