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There's no present greater than the survival of great apes.。

SEE ALSO:Meet the animals that probably went extinct in 2017。

Ellen DeGeneres turned 60 recently, and her wife Portia de Rossi gave her present on air, despite having almost entirely lost her voice. 。

"It's your sixtieth birthday," said de Rossi, "and this gift had to be really special, and it had to represent who you are and what you really care about." 。

Inspired by Ellen's personal hero Dian Fossey, de Rossi gave her a truly unique and wonderful gift. She set up a fund and campus in Ellen DeGeneres' name at the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. 。

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De Rossi described the campus as "a most incredible centre for tourism, education, and for further scientific research."
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"It's good to be loved it's profound to be understood," said DeGeneres of the gift, "and she understands me because that is the best gift that anybody could have given me."
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Since Dian Fossey started her work in 1967, the mountain population of Rwanda has doubled -- although the total population is still threatened, with only 880 mountain gorillas alive in the world today. They are listed as "critically endangered" on the IUCN red list.。

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Not many things are better than birthday cake, but helping to preserve some of the most threatened and wonderful animals in the world probably counts.
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