FAQ for
Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey (1988) More at IMDbPro »

Yes, it is chiefly based on two biographies of Fossey by the Canadian author and conservationist Farley Mowat: Virunga: The Passion of Dian Fossey (1987) and Woman in the Mists: The Story of Dian Fossey (1987).

The film, however, makes many deviations from reality. The scenes in which Fossey orchestrated the mock hanging of a poacher and burned poachers' huts were fictional. It also introduced fictional characters, such as the animal trader Van Vecten, and changed the names of Fossey's students.

It is not known.

Fossey was murdered on December 26, 1985. Her skull had been split by a panga (a type of machete), a tool widely used by poachers, which she had confiscated years earlier and hung as a decoration on the wall of her living room, which was adjacent to her bedroom. Fossey was found dead beside her bed and two metres (7 feet) away from the hole in the cabin that was cut on the day of her murder. There was relatively little blood in her bedroom, leading some to believe that she was killed before the head wound was inflicted, as head wounds, even superficial ones, usually bleed profusely.

Her biographer Farley Mowat believed that she was not killed by poachers, but by those who viewed her as an impediment to tourism and financial exploitation of the gorillas. He thought that poachers would have killed her in the jungle, which would be less risky for them.

On the night of Fossey's murder, a metal sheeting from her bedroom was removed at the only place of the bedroom where it would not have been obstructed by her furniture, which supports the case that the murder was committed by someone who was familiar with the cabin and her day-to-day activities. The sheeting of her cabin, which was normally securely locked at night, might also have been removed after the murder to make it appear as if the killing was the work of poachers. But, according to Mowat, it is unlikely that a stranger could have entered her cabin by cutting a hole and then going to her living-room to get the panga, giving Fossey time to escape. The cabin showed signs of a struggle as there was broken glass on the floor and tables and other furniture overturned. Fossey was found dead with her gun beside her but the ammunition didn't fit the weapon. All Fossey's valuables were still in the cabin thousands of US dollars in cash and travelers' checks, and photo equipment remained untouched valuables a poor poacher would most likely have taken.

After Fossey's death, her entire staff, including Rwelekana, a tracker she had fired months before, was arrested. All but Rwelekana, who was later found dead in prison, supposedly having hanged himself, were released. Mowat believed that Fossey had been murdered by an African man who she had admitted to her home.

Linda Melvern believed that Protais Zigiranyirazo (a.k.a. "Monsieur Zed"), the governor of Ruhengeri prefecture, ordered Fossey's murder. Zigiranyirazo had strong financial interests in gorilla tourism.