It was not until the age of 31 that the American Dian Fossey discovered Rwanda and the great apes that still live there. This encounter deeply affected her. She became fascinated by the gorillas and decided to observe them in order to better understand and defend them. She had to approach them without frightening them, and for that, what better way than to look like them? So she reproduced their behaviour, walking on all fours, nibbling plants, imitating their cries, their gestures... Soon, the Rwandans called her Nyiramachabelli, which meant : "The woman who lives without men in the forest". She became more and more involved with the gorillas, including the big males who were so wild. And the more she cohabited with the apes, the less she tolerated humans...