My Conservation Heroes
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There are many people that have inspired me through the years to help the environment and protect the gorillas I love. My first inspiration came from watching a documentary in first grade and learning of the tireless work of Dian Fossey and her study of the gorillas of the Congo. Since the creation of Mariah Saves Gorillas, I have learned much more about the work of others who do their part to help protect our precious Earth. These are my Conservation Heroes.
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Dian Fossey in the bush with her favorite gorilla, Digit. Dian Fossey studied the mountain gorillas of the Congo from 1963 until her death in 1985. She was the first scientist to bring awareness to the plight mountain gorillas, and also brought knowledge of gorilla intelligence to the world through study of their behavior and family relationships. Her base camp for gorilla study became known as the Karisoke Research Center in Rwanda, at the base of Mt. Karisimbi and Mt. Visoke in Rwanda, 1967.
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Jane Goodall has studied the Chimpanzees of the Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania since the early 1960's. She too has been a pioneer in the knowdlege base surrounding the understanding of Chimp behavior, personality, and emotions, and like Dian Fossey, she broke the traditional scientific practice of numbering and instead named the primates in her study. Beyond Gombe, Dr. Goodall created the Jane Goodall Institute to fund primate research and also began a global youth conservation program called Roots & Shoots.
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Penny Patterson taught Koko (a Western Lowland Gorilla) how to use American Sign Language to communicate with humans through her work at the Gorilla Foundation. Her books such as Koko Love and Koko's Kitten have opened the eyes of children around the world to the sensitive and loving nature of gorillas and their ability to learn and communicate with humans.
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