Volcanoes National Park · Karisoke
Dian Fossey and the gorillas
The American scientist who lived among Rwanda's mountain gorillas, fought to protect them, and rests beside them on the slopes of Mount Bisoke.
Her story
The woman who stood up for the gorillas.
Dian Fossey was an American primatologist who spent 18 years studying the mountain gorillas of the Virunga volcanoes, the same mountains we grew up beneath. Encouraged by the paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey, she began her fieldwork in 1967.
On 24 September 1967 she founded the Karisoke Research Center in the saddle between Mount Karisimbi and Mount Bisoke, joining the two names together. Her work showed the world that gorillas are gentle, social animals with close family bonds.
Rwandans living near the forest knew her as Nyiramachabelli, which she translated as "the lone woman of the forest".
Her legacy
From research to protection.
- 1967Founds the Karisoke Research Center in what is now Volcanoes National Park.
- 1977Poachers kill Digit, her favourite gorilla. She starts the Digit Fund to pay for anti-poaching patrols.
- 1981Mountain gorilla numbers in the Virungas fall to about 250, down from about 450 in 1960.
- 1983Publishes Gorillas in the Mist, later made into the 1988 film of the same name.
- 1985Is murdered at Karisoke in December. She is buried beside Digit in the gorilla graveyard she built there.
- TodayThe Digit Fund became the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, which still monitors and protects the gorillas every day from its Ellen DeGeneres Campus in Rwanda.
Visit her grave
The Dian Fossey tomb hike.
The hike climbs through the forest on the slopes of Mount Bisoke to the site of Karisoke, where you can stand at her grave among the gorillas she protected. Along the way you may see golden monkeys, buffalo, antelope and forest birds, with views across Volcanoes National Park.
- Start
- Morning, at the base of Mount Bisoke, about 30 minutes' drive from the park briefing point at Kinigi.
- Permit
- $75 per person for foreign visitors. You must carry your permit, as it is checked at the gate.
- Porter
- Optional, about $10, to carry your bag.
- Bring
- Hiking or waterproof boots, long trousers and socks, a long-sleeved shirt, gloves, snacks and water.
Sources: Dian Fossey (Wikipedia), Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, Volcanoes National Park. Permit fees can change, so we confirm them when we plan your trip.