Nor do I believe Dian was killed by poachers. If one of them had really sought her death, he would have attempted to have her poisoned or, if absolutely desperate, would have killed her when she was in his domain—in the forest—where an arrow, a gunshot, or a spear-thrust could have ended her life with small risk to him.
Then who did kill Dian Fossey, and why?
I suspect she was murdered by an African with whom she was familiar and who was himself familiar with the camp and its day-to-day activities. I suspect he was hired, or suborned, by influential people who increasingly viewed Dian as a dangerous impediment to the exploitation of the Parc National des Volcans, and especially to the exploitation of the gorillas. I believe the extension of Dian’s visa for two full years was her death warrant.
I have been told that soon after Dian’s death a plan was prepared to turn her “Mausoleum” into a museum for the edification of gorilla-watching tourists who would be accommodated in the other cabins at Karisoke. I was told that the plan is temporarily in abeyance because it would not be politic to implement it now. Perhaps when the moviemakers, reporters, and writers of books have all finished their work, and the world at large has forgotten what Dian really stood for—and against—ORTPN and its associates will have their way.
Meantime Karisoke Research Center functions much as Dian Fossey would have wished. Research students continue to go there to study the gorillas, and Digit Fund patrols still sweep the forests to keep them free of poachers and their traps.
As for the mountain kings of the Virungas, who can say what fate awaits them at our hands? But if they do survive, it will be due in no small measure to the dedication of a woman who was in love with life—with all of life—a woman who did what great lovers must always do: who gave herself completely to those she loved.
COPYRIGHT © 1987 BY FARLEY MOWAT
Originally published in Canada by McClelland & Stewart Ltd. under the title Virunga and in the United States by Warner Books under the title Woman in the Mists.
Emblem edition published 2009
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LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION
Mowat, Farley, 1921-
Gorillas in the mist / Farley Mowat.
Originally published under title: Virunga.
eISBN: 978-1-55199-324-9
1. Fossey, Dian. 2. Gorilla – Rwanda.
3. Primatologists – United States – Biography.
4. Women Primatologists – United States – Biography.
I. Title.
QL31.F68M68 2009 599.884′092 C2009-901222-7
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and that of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Ontario Book Initiative. We further acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program.
Map illustrations by Andrew Roberts, based on original illustrations by Giorgetta Bell McRee
McClelland & Stewart Ltd.
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Farley Mowat, Gorillas in the Mist
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