The primary researcher for this study was Dr. Dian Fossey, who began studying the mountain gorillas in 1966. By the time she wrote her famous book about the mountain gorillas, she had been studying them intensively for over 14 years.
The mountain gorillas themselves were located in the volcanic rain forests of the Virunga Mountains which were shared by Zaire, Rwanda, and Uganda. It is primarily Rwanda, however, that has control and oversight of the gorillas' habitat. Within the Virunga Mountains is located the Parc des Volcans and within that is located the Karisoke Research Centre which the Rwandan government allowed Dr. Fossey to establish. The environment itself is lush upland rain forest, mountainous and remote. The population of mountain gorillas remaining in the wild was about 240 when Dr. Fossey wrote her book and this has not changed substantially since that time. It is a small, but still viable, population of family groups.
Dr. Fossey used some of the techniques made famous by Jane Goodall. Essentially she began by trailing the gorillas, seeking to have them gain comfort with her. She spent years gaining their acceptance of her presence, partially by imitating their sounds and actions. By the time of her study, the gorillas had more exposure to the outside world of researchers. They had always been exposed to human beings, because they were sought after for many reasons. However, their exposure to researchers and eco tourists has increased considerably since the time that Dr. Fossey began studying them.
The mountain gorillas are basically vegetarians who gain their subsistence by foraging on the mountainsides. Fossey included a list of food vegetation types used by gorillas in study groups 4, 5, 8 and Nunkie's group. These included ferns, sedge grass, flowers, shrubs, trees, vines, and parasites. For example, under herbaceous plants, Fossey listed carex, cineraria, cynoglossum, helichrysum, lobelia, r...