![]() They’re just amazing, beautiful creatures.” (Gorilla trekking permits are $1,500 per person, with operators such as Go2Africa offering enriched experiences, such as gorilla treks with DFGF researchers, silverback sundowner experiences and a private gorilla conservation master class, all while contributing to conservation funds. When they’re next to you, in person, you see their family dynamic. “People were treating them like monsters when it was the humans that were the monsters, killing and poaching them. “They don’t want to hurt you and yet they could snap you in two, but they’re these gentle creatures and that’s what Dian showed everybody,” continues DeGeneres. Being next to them is life-changing,” she says. So it’s really made a difference, bringing awareness.” Her own firsthand experiences gorilla trekking “reaffirmed everything that I had always wanted to do when I was a kid. “When Portia gave me this gift, there were 800 gorillas,” says DeGeneres, “and today there are around 1,100. The event auctioned off buildings, including the theater named for DiCaprio’s mother, and a computer lab in his father George’s name, raising $5 million. ![]() “We invited all our pals, Leo being one of them, and they were all so incredibly generous,” says de Rossi. The couple’s nonprofit, The Ellen Fund, made the lead gift for the campus, and the duo held a 2019 fundraiser called Gorillapalooza. The hope, says de Rossi, is that the next generation of conservationists in the country are “ rather than folks from other countries.” Adds DeGeneres, “It’s not long before we lose a bunch of other species if we don’t protect their habitats.” The campus so far has seen about 5,000 visitors, two-fifths who have been Rwandan students. When they first visited in 2018, DeGeneres says, “I met people who had worked with Dian, and I sat at her desk and of course wept because it was the most moving thing to sit where she sat and worked.” Visitors also can engage with augmented and virtual reality, artifacts and a reproduction of how Fossey lived in her little hut, complete with original notations and desk. It offers immersive and educational experiences, such as watching mountain gorillas on film in the 360-degree Irmelin DiCaprio Theater, “which is really very overwhelmingly beautiful,” says de Rossi. Fast-forward to February 2022, when the campus - designed by sustainably minded architecture firm MASS Design Group - opened to the public.
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