Dian Fossey Quotes

The man who kills the animals today is the man who kills the people who get in his way tomorrow.

My study of the wild gorilla is not yet finished, and even when it is complete, it will contribute only a small part toward man’s understanding of his closest animal relatives, the great apes. But one conclusion is already clear: The gorilla is one of the most maligned animals in the world.

If mountain gorillas are to survive and propagate, far more active conservation measures urgently need to be undertaken. The question remains, is it already too late?

I have made my home among the mountain gorillas.

I cannot concur with those who advocate saving gorillas from extinction by killing and capturing more free-living individuals only to exhibit them in confinement.

The more you learn about the dignity of the gorilla, the more you want to avoid people.

One of the basic steps in saving a threatened species is to learn more about it: its diet, its mating and reproductive processes, its range patterns, its social behavior.

For captive gorillas, trees should be available to climb and material such as straw, branches, or bamboo supplied for nest building.

When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future.

Any observer is an intruder in the domain of a wild animal and must remember that the rights of that animal supersede human interests. An observer must also keep in mind that an animal’s memories of one day’s contact might well be reflected in the following day’s behavior.

I have no friends. The more you learn about the dignity of the gorilla, the more you want to avoid people.

[My] excursions provided a unique opportunity for observing [the gorillas’ behavior] in their natural habitat… Then, all too soon, the infants were demanded for their trip to the zoo. … [H]appily the babies did not know they would never see their mountain home again

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.

Among all researchers who have worked in the African field, I consider myself one of the most fortunate because of the privilege of having been able to study the mountain gorilla.

When you realize the value of all life, you dwell on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future.

The extraordinary gentleness of the adult male with his young dispels all the King Kong mythology.

I had this great urge… I had it the day I was born. Some may call it destiny. My parents and friends called it dismaying.

Gorillas are the largest of the great apes. A mature male may be six feet tall and weigh 400 pounds or more; his enormous arms can span eight feet.

It is true that there comes a time when I do literally dream about McDonald’s. I dream of supermarkets and drug stores, potato chips and the Sunday morning paper.

I have no friends.

Gorillas are almost altruistic in nature. There’s very little if any ‘me-itis.’ When I get back to civilization, I’m always appalled by ‘me, me, me.’

The mountain gorilla faces grave danger of extinction – primarily because of the encroachments of native man upon its habitat – and neglect by civilized man, who does not conscientiously protect even the limited areas now allotted for the gorilla’s survival.

Active conservation [of gorillas] involves simply going out into the forest, on foot, day after day after day, attempting to capture poachers, killing-regretfully-poacher dogs, which spread rabies within the park, and cutting down traps.

Gorillas are almost altruistic in nature. There’s very little if any ‘me-itis.’ When I get back to civilization I’m always appalled by ‘me, me, me.’

The Parc des Volcans in Rwanda, where I conduct most of my studies, is heavily infested with poachers and herdsmen, whose cattle graze right through my camp area. Park boundaries have no meaning to these tribesmen.

I had a wonderful contact, especially with Uncle Bert who was an angel and led the whole group over to my side of a steep ravine I could not cross to get over to them.

Those bearing the heavy responsibility of caring for captive gorillas should be encouraged to exchange so-called nonbreeders between populations, an inherent process among free-living gorillas and one that avoids inbreeding and also stimulates productivity.

Not only was it necessary to get the gorillas accustomed to the bluejeaned creature who had become a part of their daily lives, it was also very necessary for me to know and recognize the particular animals of each group as the amazing individuals they were.

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.

There are times when one cannot accept facts for fear of shattering one’s being. As I listened to Ian’s news, all of Digit’s life, since my first meeting with him as a playful little ball of black fluff ten years earlier, passed through my mind. From that moment on, I came to live within an insulated part of myself.