Digit (gorilla)
Digit (* 1965 ; † 1977 ) was a male mountain gorilla who first became known to the scientific community through the work of the primatologist Dian Fossey and later to a wider public through the feature film Gorillas im Nebel .
Digit and Fossey
Dian Fossey lived from 1967 until her death in 1985 at the Karisoke Research Center , a research station for mountain gorillas in Rwanda that she founded. During the daily observation of the animals, she developed a particularly close relationship with the then five-year-old male gorilla Digit ( finger ), whom she named because of an anomaly in his right hand (probably due to a broken middle finger).
Fossey watched Digit for over ten years, and over time he began to trust her and soon allowed her to be physically close. Fossey also got involved with Digit on an emotional level. In 1981, four years after his death, she wrote: “Digit's killing was probably the saddest event in all the years I had shared with the mountain gorillas. [...] Digit was a favorite among the gorillas I studied, and I'm not ashamed to call him my beloved Digit . "
On New Year's Eve 1977, the now grown-up silverback was killed in a fight with six poachers while he was trying to protect his family from the attackers. The rest of the group was able to escape thanks to his efforts, only Digits son Kweli was taken alive by the poachers, apparently to be taken to a zoo. Digit was fatally hit by several spears and his body was mutilated: his head, hands and feet were hacked off, presumably to sell as souvenirs.
One of Digits murderers, Munyarukiko, was caught the next day. A member of one of the local tribes admitted that a Hutu dealer paid him US $ 20 for Digits body parts. His head was to serve as a trophy and his hands as an ashtray.
Digits death and the consequences
The decisive event for Fossey caused them to radically change their previous position. She gave up her initially purely scientific research in favor of her personal commitment in the sense of "advocacy" for the gorillas. Relying on the concept of active conservation (dt about:. Active conservation ) they dismissed their students to go from now on armed patrol, put on with the Rwandan government and put a bounty for the capture of the rest of digits killing involved Men off. Three of them were later caught.
Fossey used Digits fame and his death - until then he had operated worldwide on travel agency posters as a representative and symbol of the national park - to gain international attention and support for their cause. In 1978 she founded the Digit Fund to finance her fight against poachers. She was supported by the National Geographic Society , for which she had written several articles. The funds were used, among other things, to maintain patrols that rendered the traps laid by poachers harmless. The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International , founded in 1992 as a successor organization, is still dedicated to the protection and conservation of mountain gorillas today.
Because the bodies of killed gorillas were found again and again after Digits death, despite their efforts, Dian Fossey set up a cemetery for them in Karisoke (see Gorilla Cemetery ). Fossey herself was also buried there after her violent death in 1985.
literature
- Dian Fossey: Gorillas in the Fog. Kindler, Munich 1989. (Original title: Gorillas in the Mist. )
Web links
References and comments
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from June 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from July 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/07/archive/fossey-gorillas-1981/dian-fossey-text
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from June 20, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/celebrity/dian_fossey/11.html
- ↑ http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/celebrity/dian_fossey/11.html
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 17, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
