Africa: Among The Wild, Part 4

Join News 9's Colby Thelen and photojournalist Darrell Vannostran as they bring you an Oklahoma's Own Originals special, "Africa: Among The Wild."

Tuesday, June 6th 2023, 8:17 pm

By: News 9

An American researcher named Dian Fossey moved to the mountains of Rwanda 55 years ago to study the Western Mountain Gorilla.

She dedicated her life to protecting the species which she believed would be extinct before the year 2000. Her fight also led to her unsolved murder in 1985.

Today, the Oklahoma City Zoo helps support the organization created in her name.

The new home of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund houses many of Fossey’s possessions and her research. It also protects the gorillas with boots on the ground 24/7.

In Rwanda, the Western Mountain Gorillas are no longer poached and it is the only species of great ape that is increasing.