Dian Fossey Narrates Her Life With Gorillas in This Vintage Footage | National Geographic

[Music] [Laughter] [Music] We leave civilization behind us and go into the heartland of the mountains. [Music] [Applause] [Music] To build the nests may take up to five minutes. Carefully selected vines and stalks are bent around the animal's body to make a good rim. The younger animals seem to have a bit of trouble with foliage that seems to have a mind of its own; therefore, it has to be put in place bodily. They begin planting at the age of two years, but sometimes their initial flimsy efforts need more practice.

[Music] Perhaps because he has lost all of his peers, or maybe because he is in that special classification of young males, Digit has been remarkably tolerant toward observers and even appears to welcome their presence. He is also especially attracted to objects we take out into the field, such as camera lenses, notebooks, and gloves. Slowly, slowly, over the years, about a year and a half, all the animals of group four were approaching very closely simply because of their own initiative and the sense of curiosity. To have finally been accepted by the wild gorillas was its own reward, and the thrill of each day's contact is one that will never diminish. [Music]