It takes a week of meetings and negotiations to convince the Rwandan government to issue the necessary papers allowing the group from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund to trek up to Karisoke. The research station established by Fossey. sits at an elevation of about 10,000 feet on the side of Bisoke Volcano in the heart of mountain gorilla habitat. After she was killed here, the Fossey Gorilla Fund was established to continue her work. Half the world’s mountain gorilla population lives on the slopes of the Virunga Mountains in Rwanda, Zaire, and Uganda. The fund plays an important role, not only in researching the mountain gorillas, but also working with the Rwandan government to protect them.