Right from the start, the strong, decisive fact of Fossey comes to light, right from the first meeting with Professor Leakey, wanted and conquered by fighting, almost, with the photographers and admirers - real or presumed - who surround him at the end of a conference. His request to carry out research in Africa is more than a question or a plea. It is a passionate request, an assumption of responsibility. It expresses a question of vital importance and it is already, basically, a gesture of challenge through which she comes to ask herself, even before being a capable researcher, as a highly motivated person, of one who, beyond the comparison of a scientific curriculum or his value, he snatches the consent to his stay in Africa with determination. This will soon become the peculiar aspect of the character through which the events drawn from his life in the Virunga mountains will be filtered and take consistency.
Gorillas fully deserve the appellation of "king of the forest" because in addition to their impressive size and unquestionable strength, they also have great intelligence. After chimpanzees and bonobos, they are our closest relatives. Since King Kong first appeared on the big screen in 1933, that giant fictional ape has shown audiences around the world a behavior that gorillas actually have: the action of beating their breasts.
But perhaps it will come as a surprise to know that, beyond the assumptions made by scientists, there is little tangible evidence of why male gorillas sometimes beat their chests.
Paradoxically, although the action of beating the chest may seem like a manifestation of aggression on the part of male mountain gorillas, new research by Wright shows that that behavior could instead prevent violence between these massive animals that can reach impressive weight. of 220 kg.
Mountain gorillas live in strongly bonded family groups led by silverback males (named after their silver back), whose authority is constantly challenged by other males. Displaying their size, mating status, and sound-fighting abilities that they can travel long distances in dense rainforests, silverbacks warn potential challengers that perhaps it is best to think twice before starting a fight.
More than twenty years ago, she was welcomed by the mountains of Virunga National Park, in Rwanda where Dian Fossey - the primatologist-heroine killed in 1985 - had founded the Karisoke Research Center in 1967 to protect and study mountain gorillas of extinction. And it is there that Veronica learned all about these African giants who have so much in common with humans, among the forests where the 1,063 specimens that try to survive poaching live today, revered by the Rwandan government which has finally recognized their value and celebrated. their importance as the first economic income of the African nation. He learned everything inspired by Dian Fossey, so much so that he is now known as his Italian heir.
THE PRODIGY OF IDEAS 