It was from a small hut in Rwanda that researcher and conservationist Dian Fossey observed that while gorillas may sometimes act tough, they are really gentle giants.

Fossey is one of the most famous scientists in the world, but her path to greatness was a meandering one. While she had always been interested in animals, her bachelor’s degree was in occupational therapy. One year, after hearing stories and seeing pictures from a friend’s vacation in Africa, Fossey decided that she would visit there herself. In 1963, she gathered all of her savings and took out a three-year loan. She set a course for Africa, planning stops in Kenya, Tanzania, Congo, and Zimbabwe. She didn’t know it yet, but this trip would change her life forever.

At Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, one of the final stops on her journey, Fossey met archaeologist Louis Leakey. During the visit, Dr. Leakey told Fossey of Jane Goodall’s research with chimps, which at that point had just barely begun. They also discussed the importance of long-term research on the great apes. Fossey later said that this meeting planted the idea in her head that she would one day return to study the gorillas of Africa.

Early Research

Fossey began her long-term study of mountain gorillas in 1966, eventually establishing her “Karisoke” Research Center camp on Sept. 24, 1967, in an area between Mt. Visoke and Mt. Karisimbi, merging the names of the two volcanoes to create the name “Karisoke.”

She lived among the mountain gorillas for nearly 20 years keeping detailed journals to record everything she observed, and forging close relationships with individual gorillas as she gained their trust. She shared her thoughts and the results of her findings with the world, teaching us that gorillas are not monsters but social beings full of curiosity and affection. Her work paved the way for international support of mountain gorilla conservation and research, but her life was tragically cut short as a result of her efforts. She was found murdered in her cabin in Karisoke on December 26, 1985.

In 1988, the life and work of Fossey were portrayed in a movie based on her book. In the film Gorillas in the Mist, Sigourney Weaver starred as Fossey and later became the honorary chairperson of what is now the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International.

The film started a wave of curiosity about mountain gorillas and started a whole new industry of “gorilla tourism,” which has been a financial boon for conservation efforts, as well as a deterrent against poachers fearful of being discovered.

Fossey and Other Close Encounters

Dian Fossey started a process of ‘habituation’ that enabled her to work closely with the gorillas.

Just last year, in the Bwindi National Park in Uganda, a group of eight tourists quietly observed a family of mountain gorillas just a few yards away. After fifty-five minutes, a large male approached one of the tourists and gave him a big “high-five.”

“The gorilla probably approached him because he had a lot of body hair,” said Chuck Nichols, who ran the two-week gorilla tour in Uganda. Nichols owns a tour company based in Moab, Utah that specializes in small-group adventure tours around the world.

“The gorillas are not scary,” Nichols said, explaining that, actually, he has to make sure the gorillas are not the ones running scared. “A tracker must accompany the group, and people are only allowed to observe the gorillas for one hour,” he said. He also makes sure the groups are healthy since he does not want to stand the chance of passing on infectious diseases to the animals.

Sadly, these peaceful animals may not survive into the next century. Ape conservationists say time is running out, as there are only about 720 mountain gorillas left in the world, and the majority of gorilla populations are plummeting.

From the beginning, Fossey focused attention on the gorillas’ plight and saw clearly that they were doomed unless people could learn how to share forest resources with these great apes. She understood that they needed our protection if they were to survive, and gave her life in the struggle to protect them from poachers.

Like Fossey, biologists are becoming activists by necessity and are putting their lives on the line to save these great apes. In fact, conservation professionals and many national park staff have lost their lives in the course of duty because until now, their efforts have been poorly enforced. Today, ape conservation organizations, like the Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP) have come together to partner with Fossey’s Gorilla Fund in a last-ditch effort to unify existing conservation efforts.

In the mountains east of the Congo River Basin, human-transmitted pathogens have taken a heavy toll, and the hope is that GRASP will succeed in protecting the gorillas. Gorillas are closely related to humans and susceptible to the same diseases that we are; however, they have not developed the immunities to resist human diseases, making them vulnerable to infections that could spread and severely deplete an entire population.

Habituated gorilla groups (those that are visited by tourists) have the greatest risk, which is why tourists are not permitted to go near the gorillas if they feel sick. But, according to Melanie Virtue, a team leader for GRASP, this is hard to enforce, especially due to the amount of money that is spent to view these animals.

“You can imagine that a tourist traveling a great distance to see these animals, of which they have probably dreamed their entire lives, is going to be quite hesitant to say, ‘No, I am not feeling well and don’t want to endanger them,’” Virtue explains.

Today, the Karisoke Research Center that Fossey established is conducting a Tourism Impact Study, using both behavioral and physiological data (urine and fecal samples) to assess the impact of tourism on the Virunga mountain gorilla population.

“Almost certainly the biggest factor in the conservation success with this species has been the income they generate from gorilla tourism, so if you can afford it, going to see these amazing animals in the wild really is helping to ensure their survival,” said David Jay, senior officer of Born Free, an ape conservation organization that works with GRASP.

The future of these great apes will certainly depend on tourists’ interest in seeing these apes first-hand and that people show continued concern for their safety, according to Jay.

Fossey had the courage to follow gorillas among the steep ravines of a 14,000-foot volcano over 40 years ago, and so made it possible for all of us to follow in her footsteps.

Uncertain Future for the Alpine Red Deer

However inhospitable the weather may turn in the highest regions of the Austrian Alps, evolution has equipped the diverse species that claim these heights as their home with the ability to survive. The variations in weather are often sudden and intense, and the adaptations and perseverance required of these alpine creatures in order to ensure species survival are remarkable.

Throughout the year, Austria’s red deer roam the alpine environment in search of food. In summer, the red deer migrate to the highest altitudes and can stay there all season long. But, over the course of the season, the force of the elements can vary widely. Frequent lightning strikes can decimate entire herds that frequent these regions. If the mountain grasslands go dry or are over-grazed by local herds, the red deer will move down the mountainside to lower pastures where there may be more vegetation.

Come autumn, the red deer descend to lower elevations in the forested river valleys and graze on vegetation there before the long, grueling winter. When winter arrives, the landscape is transformed. Snow accumulation can exceed a person’s height in just a few days. Red deer forage for the sparse remaining vegetation on the cliffs, where winds have cleared the snow and left patches of plant life. The strongest deer are able to adapt and reduce their need to eat in winter. As they take in fewer calories, their heart rate, body temperature and metabolism are drastically lowered, and they slow down to reduce their energy expenditure.

In winter, snow accumulation can exceed a person’s height in just a few days.

Humans are changing everything and disrupting the process of natural selection. Many deer in the Alps can no longer survive the seasons on their own because they have come to depend on handouts from local landowners, farmers and even hunters who put out food to attract the deer. Austria’s red deer management program, too, in an effort to keep deer populations large enough to guarantee hunting success, have set up feeding stations in fenced enclosures near roads, where many deer spend more than half the year.

Each year it gets more difficult for the red deer to fend for themselves as humans encroach on their terrain. Busy roads, hunting stations, eco-unfriendly ski resorts, and the effects of global warming are threatening the long-term stability of red deer populations.

Along with the fenced enclosures for feeding, roads and highways are disrupting the deer’s migration route. More than 10 million trucks and about 50 million cars cross the Alps each year. Seventy-seven million tons of cargo move through the mountains in an average year, including furniture, chemicals, livestock, mineral water and automobiles. By 2020, some predict, Trans-Alpine commercial transport will double. The mountains concentrate the fumes from all these vehicles, and the greenhouse gas emissions are trapped in narrow valleys. The rapid increase in these carbon-emitting fossil fuels is expected to have a profound effect on the climate of the Alps. For the red deer, the problem is that they have adapted to the cold, barren conditions of Austria’s Alpine region. Biologists fear that if the temperature keeps rising, many alpine animals will face quick declines or extinction. According to the Austrian Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics, the Alps are warmer today than anytime in the past 1,300 years. Some creatures have adapted to the constantly changing and gradually more restrictive environment — shifting breeding and migration dates, according to Science Magazine. But the red deer have fewer places to migrate, since they are surrounded by roads and ski resorts.

In 2007, Austria held an international conference on how to cope with the warm winters and lack of snowfall caused by global warming. However, the focus of the conference was not the animals and their habitat, but rather the impact of climate change on tourism and ski resorts. Austria’s Federal Forest Administration is working with land owners, communities and traffic authorities to protect wildlife corridors by building green bridges. And, ski resorts in the Alps are answering the demand for sustainable tourism by offering incentives for visitors who use public transportation and hybrid cars. But even with these green initiatives, it’s uncertain what lies ahead for these mountain dwellers when human encroachment and global warming threaten their natural resources and habitat.