Dian Fossey January 16, 1932 – December 27, 1985
Most of what we know about gorillas today is thanks to Dian Fossey. She studied gorillas for 18 years and even achieved the hard task of becoming accepted into their community. Often times infant gorillas were taken from their mothers for personal profit. In order to do this, almost always, the mother gorilla would have to be killed. During her time she spent with the gorillas two infant gorillas she knew were taken. Outraged by this Dian Fossey kidnapped a human baby from the poachers village and would not return the baby until the gorilla infants were returned. They were returned, but in 1985 Dian Fossey was murdered in her cabin. Dian was killed by a machete, a known weapon poachers used. The machete actually split her skull and face open. Dian’s frightened expression was frozen on her face and the murderer was never found. Despite the fact that it’s outlawed gorilla poaching is still around today and threatens the very existence of their kind.