(Posted 25th July 2024)
Courtesy of Charlotte Beauvoisin, Author of Diary of a Muzungu
Ep. 15 Grunting with the gorilla gardeners. In conversation with Ian Redmond OBE
In this week’s episode, renowned conservationist (and personal conservation hero) Ian Redmond OBE discusses the interconnectedness of life – from the elephant, gorilla, and chimpanzee gardeners in the rainforests of the Congo Basin to a loaf of bread in England!
Regular listeners will know that one of the reasons I created the East Africa Travel Podcast is to introduce you to some of the extraordinary people I’ve met during my last 15 years working in conservation and tourism in Uganda.
Ian has been in love with East Africa since 1976 when he first travelled to Africa to study and protect the mountain gorillas of Rwanda and the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly known as Zaire). In 1978, he was part of the team that filmed Sir David Attenborough’s famous encounter with the mountain gorillas for the BBC’s “Life on Earth” series. Such was the impact of that recording that in 1999, British television viewers placed Attenborough’s gorilla sequence at number 12 out of 100 in the “Greatest TV Moments,” ranking it ahead of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation and the wedding of Charles and Diana. More importantly for the mountain gorillas, this intimate moment with a great ape was one of the catalysts for a turnaround in their (then) critically endangered status.
During the past four decades, Ian has advised in the making of more than 100 documentaries for the BBC, Nat Geo, and the Discovery Channel. He even coached actress Sigourney Weaver on how to grunt like a gorilla for the 1988 film “Gorillas in the Mist.”
Listen to the first part of our conversation to learn about:
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Ian’s role in the mountain gorilla story
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His unusual approach to securing a job with Dian Fossey in the Virunga Mountains of Rwanda
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Turning points in his life, such as the murder of his friend Digit, the young silverback gorilla
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How Fossey might view gorilla conservation now
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Rebalance Earth and the ecosystem services value of an elephant far beyond its tourism value.
If you enjoy our conversation, listen out for part two of our conversation in next week’s episode when we discuss western lowland gorillas, bonobos, Kahuzi Biega National Park in the DRC and Ian shares more insights from his amazing career.
