The Fragile Dynasty
of the Gorilla

urns out, being bitten at the base of the neck by an adult male gorilla, then toppling unconscious down a 30-foot ravine, isn’t always fatal.

In fact, conservationist Bill Weber ’72, H’23 not only survived said unimaginable circumstance, but still blames himself for it.

Recalling the early ecotourism encounter that unfolded on Rwanda’s Virunga Mountain Range in 1979, Bill crosses his arms and slowly shakes his head. He was leading a group of 20 French tourists to view gorillas when one of the tourists fell and screamed. The noise startled the troop of gorillas, who melted away into denser foliage. When Weber crawled ahead through a tunnel of vegetation searching for a better vantage point, he encountered a lone silverback male who, displeased with the intrusion, pursed his lips, slapped the ground, and charged Weber to put a fine point on the matter.

After the attack, Weber needed to make it back down the rough terrain for aid, without his glasses, which had been crunched in the melee. Eventually, he was treated at a Ruhengeri hospital for the two incisor bite wounds and several broken ribs. A few inches to either side of his neck could have led to a disastrous spinal cord injury.

The injuries kept him from returning to the field for a month. Amy Vedder ’73, H’23 helped keep the gnarly neck wound clean — and continued the daily monitoring of the gorillas. The harrowing experience reinforced their prior advocacy for smaller tourist groups, which improved the gorilla watching for tourists — and gorillas.

“We overstepped our bounds,” says Vedder, “and realized we can learn from this.”

Throughout their careers, Vedder and Weber have embraced challenging circumstances, viewing obstacles with curiosity and a willingness to change tack.

For tourists, first-time encounters with wild gorillas can be overwhelming. Many weep when they first see a gorilla in its wild habitat.

Understandable.

Looking into the eyes of a gorilla, one can be overcome by emotion and the uneasy feeling of a primal connection. At the least, a profound curiosity about what the other is thinking bubbles up.

Humans share 98% of DNA with gorillas, herbivores who grieve, play, hug, tease, and even sing together. That kinship, say Vedder and Weber, can open a window to the wonder and the magic of another species and inspire people to care.

“I don’t think anyone can go and see the gorillas and come away unmoved,” says Weber.

The couple, who both speak French, Swahili, and rudimentary Kinyarwanda, began their journey in central Africa as Peace Corps volunteers after graduation from Swarthmore.

When their teaching posts with the Peace Corps ended, they returned to the United States to attend the University of Wisconsin–Madison to earn graduate degrees.

—Bill Weber ’72, H’23

Amy Vedder ’73, H’23 shares a moment using the microphone. Gorillas have 16 distinct vocalizations, which along with body language, play an important role in their communication.

There they learned about gorilla researcher Dian Fossey’s work at Karisoke Research Center in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park. A meeting with Fossey led to her accepting their research proposal.

In 1978, they returned to Rwanda, where Vedder studied the gorillas, the largest of the great apes, at Karisoke, while Weber studied the cultural, economic, and political factors confronting their survival. Surveys to assess the latter revealed that Rwandan farmers harbored no ill feelings toward the gorillas but felt that the park needed to provide more jobs and revenue. Enter the idea for gorilla-focused ecotourism — a field for which the name did not yet exist.

Fossey opposed any such ideas, and they parted ways. Still, the couple had gained valuable experience and their work with gorillas expanded from there.

In 1979, Vedder and Weber co-founded the Mountain Gorilla Project, which is the forerunner of the current International Gorilla Conservation Programme.

“Gorillas are great ambassadors for conservation — their own, and the great diversity of other species with which we share the earth,” says Weber.

Vedder went on to become vice president of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Living Landscapes Program. Weber was director of the WCS Africa Program, creating a Congo Basin Program for the organization, then later starting its North America program.

—Amy Vedder ’73, H’23

In five decades, Vedder and Weber have pursued their research and conservation problem-solving through tumult and heartbreak.

With the goal of securing the fate of mountain gorillas, and other equally fascinating wildlife in Rwanda’s national parks, they have worked amid the chaos of coups, wars, and poaching. All along, they’ve prioritized understanding and supporting the communities whose smallholder farms surround the parks.

“We do feel proud with what we’ve done,” says Vedder, an ecologist and wildlife biologist whose early research in identifying the gorillas’ habitat and vegetation use contributed greatly to understanding their survival needs.

In the early years of their careers, the couple endured broken bones, dysentery, grueling hikes, wet socks, freezing nights, jarring rides in the backs of pickup trucks across rock-strewn roads, and hours in the rain writing field notes in protective plastic bags. As researchers and project leaders, they were steadfast.

The work in the field alongside gorillas and other African wildlife was dazzling, if difficult. But much of their time was concentrated on seeing through sometimes onerous early negotiations with government officials and potential funders. This called on their keen abilities to compromise, listen, and seek common ground on behalf of gorillas. Most importantly, they worked to identify and provide training opportunities to a growing cadre of young Rwandans eager to play leading roles in conservation.

Their efforts have reaped dividends.

“Amy and Bill have made a huge contribution for wildlife conservation in Rwanda,” says Michel Masozera, director of policy and institutional partnerships for Africa at the Wildlife Conservation Society. “First of all, understanding the behavior and ecology of mountain gorillas, as well as what local communities think, and need, and expect from conservation, was instrumental in initiating gorilla tourism, which is the main attraction to visitors in Rwanda. Secondly, after leaving Rwanda, in their various capacities Amy and Bill have been supporters of conservation in Rwanda and have been called in several times to provide technical support to various projects.”

With an extraordinary window into the world of the gorilla, Vedder and Weber then opened the experience to others — but always with an overriding concern for the safety of both gorillas and visitors. Unlike the former policy that allowed researchers to approach gorillas very closely, tourist policy now works to keep a minimum distance of 20 feet.

In 2022, gorilla visitation in the Rwandan Volcanoes National Park totaled nearly 34,000 people. These visits brought in approximately $20,300,000 in revenue. “Given the 10% share going to local communities through Rwanda’s remarkable revenue-sharing program, you could say the gorillas contributed over $2 million to their own conservation,” says Vedder. “Better yet,” adds Weber, “the gorilla population that totaled only 262 in my 1978 census now approaches almost 700 individuals.”

These results, the public and government support for conservation, and the legacy of professional Rwandans who now run all aspects of gorilla and park protection provided the basis for the honorary degrees Swarthmore College awarded to Vedder and Weber last May. “It was great to be honored as a pair,” says Vedder. “That was one of the really special parts of it.”

“I felt privileged to be out with gorillas every day,” says Vedder, who would spend up to 12 hours alone each day with gorillas early in her research. “It was unparalleled. So deeply moving to be in their midst, simply watching their lives play out.”

Today, it’s different.

“When we visit with our students, we follow tourist rules. Groups of no more than eight are permitted to observe the gorillas for only one hour. We respect the reasons for this,” Vedder adds. “But when I was out there doing research … I knew every individual. I knew their personalities and group dynamics. I felt like I was in the midst of a family gathering of some sort. Now, I visit and it’s like I’m walking into a party room where I don’t know anybody and think, ‘Okay, what are you guys doing now and what might you be thinking?’ There’s still an intimacy and a connection, but it’s a really different one.”

Having the chance to observe other people watching gorillas is rewarding too, Weber says. “You pick up this glow,” he says, “for being in the presence of a creature that is just so close to us. Several times, I’ve left in tears at the end of our time.”

“Conservation is about people — their behaviors toward nature, their beliefs about its value, and their ability to protect it without sacrificing their basic needs,” says Michel Masozera, director of policy and institutional partnerships for Africa at the Wildlife Conservation Society.

What are the challenges for Rwanda’s efforts for wildlife conservation?

The Rwanda social, economic, political, and ecological contexts are not comparable to any country in the world. In 1994, Rwanda experienced a genocide against the Tutsi that not only destroyed the social and economic fabrics of the Rwandan society but also affected its natural capital. Many protected areas were settled in; encroachment and illegal activities wiped out some wildlife species such as lions in Akagera National Park. Over the past 30 years, Rwanda has demonstrated that you can rebuild the social and economic systems while restoring the natural capital which is the key pillar of economic development.

After the genocide against the Tutsi, Rwanda invested its efforts in securing what is left as protected areas, developing enabling environments (human capacity, institutions, infrastructure, policy, and laws), developing partnerships with private-sector and conservation organizations to ensure protected areas are well managed. Every year, communities living around the parks receive 10% of tourism entrance fees to the park.

As a result of these efforts, the communities’ attitudes towards conservation have improved and political support for conservation has increased due to tourism revenues and their multiplier effects in other economic sectors.

There are challenges that come with conservation successes. Rwanda is a human-dominated landscape with an average population density of 600 people per square kilometer. Around some protected areas, population density can reach 1,000 people per square kilometer. Population growth is a challenge. Also, because of the government efforts described above, animal populations are growing and roaming outside protected areas on private farms. There is not enough land to expand protected areas, and this creates conflicts with local communities living near the park.

What has the public and government support for conservation been over the past two decades?

Public and government support towards conservation has been increasing over the past two decades due to tourism revenue and the employment it generates for local communities. Every year, Rwanda hosts a gorilla baby naming ceremony based on a baby naming ceremony in our tradition. It attracts thousands of people, including celebrities from all over the world. This shows the value the government and the public attach to conservation. Amy and Bill have been good colleagues and mentors who care about conservation in Rwanda and its people.

What do the next 20 years look like for wildlife in Rwanda?

Rwanda should strengthen what works while being proactive in addressing emerging challenges. During COVID, tourism revenues dropped substantially and the country was struggling to find resources for the management of protected areas. One of the key lessons is that Rwanda has to be forward-looking and identify innovative financing mechanisms for conservation and not rely 100% on donors and tourism revenues. As we continue to manage our parks better, animal populations will grow and human-wildlife conflicts will increase. Identifying the right incentives for communities to tolerate human-wildlife conflicts will be key to creating a landscape of coexistence between people and wildlife.

How important is the gorilla to tourism and to the economy in Rwanda?

Gorillas are the main tourism attraction in Rwanda. Last year, tourism in the Volcanoes National Park generated $30 million.

“The parks are pretty secure,” says Weber, pictured here in 1987 with colleague and family friend Léopold Rwamu planting trees on Rwanda’s National Arbor Day. “Wildlife is coming back. People are largely supportive of conservation. The government’s extremely supportive. You can’t just turn around and walk away though, because then we have other things that are happening, particularly with climate change bringing more irregular and more damaging rains.”

Today Vedder and Weber are both lecturers at Yale School of the Environment and travel with students to Rwanda to see conservation in practice by a nation, dedicated individuals, and communities who live alongside the parks and wildlife. The students are interested in how the national parks work and, since they’re relatively small, how they are sustained ecologically. “We have a Ph.D. student who is now returning to Rwanda to do postgraduate work in the Nyungwe Forest [National Park], focusing on vegetation dynamics. We have two others who are looking at farmland adaptations to climate change. We’re starting to see a cadre of young conservationists who are looking at different issues,” says Weber. “It’s great to see.”

They are warmly welcomed by Rwandans every year, Vedder says. “Rwandans with whom we’ve worked for many years sit down for long meetings and answer any questions,” she says. “The conservation work that’s being done is great.”

The parks in Rwanda have challenges, but continue to gain national and local support.

“To see the outcomes of decades of Rwandan efforts, gorilla numbers continue to go up,” Vedder says. “The park is secure, people care about it, and the gorillas are known throughout the country. It’s great to see that there is real impact from all of this conservation work.”

A young gorilla chews on vegetation. Play is an integral part of daily life for young gorillas.

Gorillas are the main tourism attraction in Rwanda. Last year, tourism in the Volcanoes National Park generated $30 million from park fees alone, with far more gained from tourist spending outside the park.

Weber points out that the Akagera National Park — a savanna of grasslands and open woodlands — offers exceptional viewing of leopards and rhinos, too. “They’re doing a great job in conservation. It’s run by Rwandans, and it is Rwandans who are visiting and enjoying their own natural world, which is really cool,” says Weber. “The bottom line is: Are the parks and the wildlife doing better or not over time? And they are. The gorilla numbers, from all indications, continue to go up. The last census was a couple of years ago, but it was far beyond what we had expected.”

“It’s a big change,” he says. “People I’ve talked to around the park recognize the park is helping the country in a really substantial way. Overwhelmingly, there’s now local support as well.”

The real challenge, the couple say, is how to plan for the future of the parks.

“Right now, the government is so keen on all of this that they’re considering reclaiming some current farmlands cleared from the Volcanoes National Park in the 1970s to restore original rainforest conditions,” says Vedder.

That significant challenge will include asking how it will be done in a just fashion, she says.

“Will compensation be adequate? Will people have a lifestyle that can continue? ” says Vedder, who adds that those were among some of the topics discussed with Rwandan leaders in last year’s study tour.

LEFT: Weber and Vedder camping in 1974. The couple raised two sons, Noah and Ethan, who were born in the United States and grew up in Africa as well as the U.S., accompanying their parents as they worked in Rwanda. They hiked the Virungas and learned about nature in the Nyungwe Forest. RIGHT: Today Vedder and Weber are both lecturers at Yale School of the Environment.

“The parks are pretty secure,” Weber says. “Wildlife is coming back. People are largely supportive of conservation. The government’s extremely supportive. You can’t just turn around and walk away, though, because then we have other things that are happening, particularly with climate change bringing more irregular and more damaging rains. Students today may not be sitting 2,000 hours with gorillas, but they’re out talking with people, measuring carbon, assessing agroforestry options.”

Vedder and Weber are inspired by the changes they have witnessed and determined to stay involved.

“Knowing what I can do to make a difference is something that really does drive me,” Vedder says. “It is helped a lot by seeing success in a place like Rwanda. And it’s not just our work, it’s all the work that has happened since then, too.”

That progress is reflected in their students from Yale, too, who are inspired by the changes in Rwanda. “To have some examples, like those in Rwanda, where you see progress is really a powerful motivator for knowing you can make a difference,” says Vedder. “Commit yourself, commit your time, commit your mind, commit your soul.”