Among the mountain gorillas of Rwanda, Titus reigns as king. In the decades that followed his birth in 1974, Titus was orphaned and abandoned, survived poachers, and overcame the deadly challenges of his rivals. Researchers and conservationists recount his triumphant story as they share their memories and archival footage of Titus, from his days as a newborn to his rise to power as a silverback. Buy the DVD. This program premiered April 19, 2008.

New king on the mountain: Titus’s son, Kuryama, is now the leader of the “Beetsme” group.

When the phone rang and I heard someone from The Gorilla Fund on the line, I got all excited. I knew it would be an update about Titus, the gorilla featured in The Gorilla King, a Nature show that I worked on that aired last April (2008).

When last we left him, Titus’s son, Kuryama, had gained alliance and support from most of the gorillas in Titus’s group. Kuryama became their leader and left with them, leaving the massive silverback to form his own group from those that remained loyal to him.

Perhaps it was Titus’s age that helped him decide to reunite with Kuryama’s group. It is harder and harder for Titus to protect and lead his group.  At 33 years old, he is considered an old man by gorilla standards.

The amazing thing is that Titus, who lead the “Beetsme” group for 15 years, decided to be second in command to his son, Kuryama.

Family is such a strong and important part of gorilla life, I am happy to see that even with his new role, Titus is still garnering respect and attention from all in Kuryama’s group as well.

To learn more, read the story at the Gorilla Fund Web site. 

- Jill Clarke
NATURE producer 

While his prolific mating is a clear sign of the king’s success, this unique gorilla’s extensive family tree grew out of tragic circumstances.

At first, daily life for Titus was routine. He was a member of a stable group of happy individuals. The group even surprisingly allowed a young outsider to join them, which is very unusual among gorilla groups. Normally they will not tolerate outsiders. Tragedy struck when Titus’s father, “Uncle Bert,” was murdered by poachers. The young outsider, Beetsme, who had become close with Titus, could sense an opportunity. He exhibited classic takeover behavior and grew aggressive toward the females of the group. In a skirmish with Titus’s mother, “Flossie,” Beetsme struck her infant, killing it. Flossie and Cleo, Titus’s sister, subsequently deserted the group, leaving young Titus orphaned and abandoned.

For a time, Titus, Beetsme, and the other remaining young males formed a group of their own. But when another group disbanded, females from that group joined them, and Beetsme became the leader of the new family group. He drove away every other male, except for Titus, who he allowed to stay, possibly to help keep the group safe from outsiders. He had succeeded in eliminating competitors for what were now his females — or so he thought.

This image shows some of the offspring Titus is known to have sired. Images are not available of all of them, as some may have died or left the area. Click to enlarge.

Beetsme was unaware that Papoose, the dominant female, was growing rather fond of his young companion, Titus. Even researcher Martha Robbins agreed with Papoose’s judgment, joking in The Gorilla King that in her own opinion Titus was the more handsome of the two. Behind Beetsme’s back, Papoose was mating with Titus. It was the beginning of an impressive dynasty.

In the course of her research, Robbins began a series of paternity tests to see who was having the most reproductive success. The tests proved that Titus had fathered several babies with Papoose, among them, Pasika, Bukima, Turakora, and Kuryama (the male whose challenges to Titus’s reign are documented in The Gorilla King).

All told, researchers at Karisoke believe that Titus has sired over 20 babies, though they are still completing DNA tests to make sure. They do know beyond a doubt, however, that he has fathered at least 13 — still more than any other known mountain gorilla.

Not too bad for a gorilla who had such enormous odds to overcome.

NATURE retraces the life of Titus, silverback leader, from birth to present reign, spanning a tumultuous period in the history of a species and a nation in The Gorilla King.

In 1974, renowned primatologist Dian Fossey introduced a young researcher named Kelly Stewart to a gorilla family Fossey was studying. Stewart, daughter of actor Jimmy Stewart, was the first to see a tiny new baby gorilla. She named him Titus, and her journal entry began the up-close observation of his life that researchers have continued to this day. Titus’s turbulent life story, from orphan to ruler and the challenge to his throne today, is chronicled in The Gorilla King.

At 33 years old, the 400-pound silverback Titus has ruled for nearly half his life, an astonishing feat given the early trials he faced. When Titus was four, his father was slaughtered by poachers. Shortly after, his infant sister was killed in a coup attempt by an interloper named Beetsme. It wasn’t unusual; when a male outsider takes over a group, he will kill all the infants in order to sire his own offspring. Titus’s mother and other sister fled, leaving him orphaned and abandoned.

In 1991, at age 17, Titus surprised researchers when he deposed Beetsme in a bloodless coup. Titus was entering his prime, but Rwanda was descending into the chaos of civil war, forcing researchers to flee. It created the only gap in his life’s record.

Follow the entire saga of Titus’s reign in The Gorilla King.

To order a copy of The Gorilla King, please visit the NATURE Shop.

Online content for The Gorilla King was originally posted April 2008.

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In 1967, local villagers in Africa’s Equitorial Guinea captured a remarkable baby gorilla with a coat of pure white. The film tells the story of this amazing animal, from his loving upbringing by humans to his eventual death from skin cancer in 2003. It also tracks the revolutionary changes in our understanding of how best to care for gorillas that have taken place during Snowflake’s lifetime. Buy the DVD. This film premiered February 19, 2005.

A mountain gorilla foot.
Photo by Simon de Glanville © Tigress Productions

Read submitted captions — or submit your own!

VIEWER-SUBMITTED CAPTIONS

“…and this little gorilla went ‘Weeeeeeee weee wee!’ all the way up the mountain!”
– Megan, Muskegon, MI

“Footloose and Fancy Free”
– Barbara Hurt, Rockwall, TX

“STOP – in the name of love!”
– Marie, Cleveland, OH

“Pumicestone, followed by a rich lotion.”
– ASB, Cambridge, MA

“Raise the roof!”
– Alex, Boston, MA

“Go ahead–tickle it–I dare you!”
– Barbara Larkin, Columbia, MO

“I sorta like this global warming!”
– Eric Rupert, Klamath Falls, OR

“I am this many!”
– Susen, Cicero, NY

“That’s one small step for ape, one giant leap for ape-kind.”
– Jim Warthman, Phoenix, AZ

“Talk to the hand!”
– MM Gagne, Pacifica, CA

“Give me five down low.”
– Loretta Goclowski, Sacramento, CA

“The perils of a vegetation hangover.”
– Andrew, Seattle, WA

The original caption submission period ended in May 2008, but you can still upload captions using the comment field below.

Before Dian Fossey’s landmark research with the mountain gorillas of Rwanda, people imagined that gorillas were dangerous beasts that lurked in the forest and would attack humans that ventured into their realm. But decades of research, tracking gorillas day by day through the misty forests of the Virunga Mountains, has shown that they are basically gentle creatures with individual personalities and rich social lives. In fact, if you could spend time with the gorillas in their verdant mountainside habitat, you might be surprised to find that their family dynamics and political maneuvers are quite complex — in some ways, almost “human.”

A gorilla family is usually comprised of three to thirty individuals, though in late 2006, Karisoke researchers in the Virungas were monitoring one group that had reached sixty-five individuals. Like Titus’s family, a typical group is led by one silverback — a mature male, so-named for the graying hair on his back — who serves as the family’s protector and main decision-maker. He is usually joined by one subordinate silverback that will help defend the group, several adult females, and a combination of younger males (”blackbacks”), juveniles and infants. Gorillas communicate in a variety of ways, including facial expressions, sounds, postures and gestures. They have been known to make at least 22 distinct sounds to communicate different feelings, from playful chuckling to frightened screams — even belches of contentment. Gorillas are affectionate creatures. In February of 2008, Karisoke researchers discovered that an adult female had been injured in an encounter with a silverback. After the injury, a younger female stayed close by the gorilla’s side, behavior that Veronica Vecellio, featured in The Gorilla King, says is evidence of the young gorilla’s kind personality. When things are calmer, gorillas often greet each other by touching their noses together, and will sometimes even give a reassuring embrace.

The females align themselves with their leader, openly soliciting mating. It is the silverback’s job to keep the group safe from outsiders, but it pays to be in his good graces. In moments of danger, he will beat his chest and intimidate or fight with an attacker while the rest of the family flees to safety. If a conflict erupts within the group, the silverback mediates between fighting family members. The silverback also knows where to find the best food sources throughout the seasons, and he leads the group in their daily travels, up to about half a mile each day. Each evening, mountain gorillas settle to dine on nettles, bamboo, and other plants. An occasional grub or colony of ants spices up the menu. Sometimes, the silverback will start to sing if he finds a particularly lush patch of greenery. As the family gathers round, others may join in the chorus. As night draws near, the adults will make a nest of flattened foliage for sleeping. Then, each morning, the group sets off again for a new home and new food source.

Up in the higher elevations of the Virunga volcanoes, Titus’s family huddles in the cool air.

When the afternoon comes, however, it’s family time. The adults build day nests and leisurely graze and rest together while the youngsters play. Moments like these reveal the tender bonds that form in gorilla families, especially between mothers and children. A newborn gorilla baby will form a very close relationship to its mother — rarely straying more than a few steps from her side for the next three to four years. Baby gorillas learn by imitating, much like human children, though gorilla babies develop more quickly. They can walk at about six months old, and after about a year and a half, a young gorilla can follow its mother on foot for short distances. Before long, the youngster will be exploring, climbing trees, play-fighting, and even walking hand-in-hand through the forest with the group’s other infants.

Internal relations are not always so smooth, however. As Titus’s reign in The Gorilla King shows, an aging silverback will sometimes face a challenge from an aggressive, younger silverback in his own group. The balance of power may shift slowly over time, until the up-and-coming male has convinced the clan that he is the one with the strength to lead. A new silverback leader is likely to kill the infants in the group, so the nursing females will stop lactating and their reproductive cycles will restart. Murdering the young of other males thus makes it possible for the new silverback to sire children of his own.

His violence and posturing may earn him respect, but don’t assume that the silverback is always in control. Females have been known to go behind the leader’s back to mate with other males, confusing them into thinking that the babies might be their own — and earning their protection in case of danger. But overall power, in part, comes from the support of the females in a group. If a leader cannot keep their respect, they will leave. The females also wield some power in the event that a silverback leader dies. If another silverback attempts a takeover but the females don’t approve, they may abandon him and seek another male to take care of them.

High on the Virunga volcanoes is an entire social world that humans still strive to fully understand. A closer look at the lives of the mountain gorillas shows that they are not monsters at all but complex creatures with families, affections, and politics of their own.