Gorillas in the Mist

I have never had a hero until I read this book. Dian Fossey is now my hero. Her bravery, passion and empathy is unlike anyone I've known. I couldn't put the book down. It captured my whole heart. This book is perfect for anyone who loves animals, especially gorillas. It is so fascinating and amazing to read about these gentle giants from Dian's perspective.

After more than 15 years, the mastermind behind the gruesome and infamous murder of renowned gorilla researcher and protector, Dr. Dian Fossey whose life was portrayed in the 1988 movie "Gorillas in the Mist," may finally be in custody in Belgium. Protais Zigiranyirazo, the former Governor of the Ruhengeri province in Rwanda, brother-in-law of the assassinated Rwandan president, and one of the country's most wanted criminals for his creation of "death squads," which killed 800,000 in 1994, was captured by Belgian police while trying to flee Kenya on June 9, 2001. Dr. Fossey observed the gorillas for 18 years in the Ruhengeri province when she was brutally murdered in her hut on December 27, 1985. Known for her vigilant pursuit of poachers, Dr. Fossey had made many enemies including Zigiranyirazo, who, it was reported, she was about to announce publicly as being behind poaching and smuggling rings of endangered species and gold in and out of Rwanda. Soon after her murder, Rwandan officials arrested one of her trackers for the murder. He then "apparently" committed suicide while in prison, but diplomats in Kigali believe he was secretly hanged before he could talk. Several months later, Wayne McGuire, her American research assistant, was accused by the Government of her murder but escaped capture when the US embassy warned him, enabling him to leave the country. For years the FBI was unable to approach its prime suspect, Zigiranyirazo, because of his political connections, but that all changed when he was arrested in Belgium for war crimes. The saga of Dian Fossey's murder may soon be resolved, but her work for the gorillas she fought so hard to preserve still goes on. The following story, reprinted from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, is of Beetsme, one of the original gorillas observed by Dr. Fossey over 25 years ago.

dian fossey's murderer was arrested in june 2001 and he as a government official called Protrais Zigiranyirazo allegedly involved in the poaching bussiness as well and sources say he did it because Dian new too much about his illigal activities and she was about to exposed him , he would have been disgraced. her murder was never a mystery because most people in rwanda knew he was the chief culprit just that he was never arrested because he was a senior politician. he hired a hitman to kill her but the hitman was later arrested by the police and found dead in his prison cell probably killed to silence him from exposing Protrais who had sent him. Potrais fled rwanda in 1993 and settled in belgium and was wanted by the international court in connection with his role in the 1994 genocide which occured in rwanda. it is from here that the present rwandan government started to investigate his background that they discovered his criminal shady past.he is due to stand trial this year 2003 and finally we may say justice has been done.i got to learn more about Dian Fossey and have become a personal admirer of her care after watching her movie and clearly i myself as an african admire her for her affection with natural conservationof wild life and the need for man kind to respect its dignity in a time where the riches of this world have led us to be so ignorant about caring for nature.

From the moment you open this captivating non-fiction book about the mountian gorillas of the Virunga Mountains, you crave to know more of these "gentle giants". Written by the first serious mountain gorilla observer, Dian Fossey, it is the first book to tell of these great apes and their very human-like characteristics and behaviors. It also tells all too well the gorillas' struggles for "freedom" and their troubles with poachers, zoos, and most of the outside world. Though it would be easy for the author to stray away from the gorillas to her own personal life, Ms. Fossey stays completely focused on her selfless journey to explain to the world that these gorillas are not beasts but "gentle giants". She beautifully paints the picture of the gorillas' close-knit families and groups, and the hostility that can be felt in or between groups. Ms. Fossey also wonderfully incorporates her own experiences with the gorillas to bring a human touch to the book and to show that humans and gorillas can have relationships and can be "friends". This book is a must and I would definetly recommend it for all audiences.