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Rwanda: The Death of King Titus - Sad But Also Uplifting
When gorillas are allowed to die from old age, it is a hopeful sign that conservation efforts and the battle against poachers are bearing fruit.

He was a giant, but not always a gentle one as the cliché wants it. Then again, he was the king, and only a firm sovereign can keep his subjects - and competitors - at bay. And he had a rich, though sometimes harsh, life. Sadly, on September 14, King Titus, the oldest silverback gorilla in Rwanda, died of old age at 35.

Among the first to pay respect to the King was famous nature-documentary maker David Attenborough. "He was a charming little animal. Certainly, it was very memorable and I haven't been allowed to forget it," Sir David declared to the Daily Mail, referring to a unforgettable moment during the making of a documentary on the mountain gorillas in 1979, when then 5-year-old Titus made his first claim to fame by jumping on the conservationist's back during filming.

The ambassador for the UN Year of the Gorilla and also an acquaintance of the king, Ian Redmond, who visited Rwanda only a few weeks ago, equally expressed his sadness. "All who knew Titus will mourn his passing in their own way - whether gorilla or human. For me it is like losing an old friend - he was the first gorilla I saw when beginning my work as Dian Fossey's research assistant in 1976."

Titus' neighbors and observers at the Karisoke Research Center (KRC) were obviously distressed. "Titus was still a strong leader of his group until the end," said Karisoke's Gorilla Program Coordinator Veronica Vecellio. "We will remember him as a most special silverback."

And a statement by the Rwanda Development Board called him "a formidable silverback whose life proved that gorillas are [a] highly intelligent species, characters that shape their own destinies. [...] He has taught us what it takes to rule the Rwandan Volcanoes Park Mountains."

"Underdeveloped and spindly"

Titus, one of the first gorillas whose entire lifespan has been closely studied by researchers, symbolizes the odds and perils the silverbacks have been facing over the past four decades. He was born on August 24, 1974 to mother Flossie and father Uncle Bert, who was the leader of what Dian Fossey then called Group Four. According to the KRC website, Fossey noted at the time that Titus as an infant seemed to be "underdeveloped and spindly" and had difficulty breathing.

He survived though, but disaster struck when Titus was 4 years old, and poachers killed his father, his younger brother and his uncle Digit - the latter a favorite of Fossey's who, writing in National Geographic in 1981, described his death as "the saddest event in all my years of sharing the daily lives of mountain gorillas."

Following the killing, a young upstart called Beetsme took control of Group 4 and chased away Flossie, leaving Titus an orphan. The new chief later also pushed out all the males, except for Titus.

That, in hindsight, seems to have been a mistake. At the age of 17, Titus challenged Beetsme for the leadership and crowned himself King. It was the start of years of prosperity, with King Titus fathering more offspring than any other known male, swelling his group to 25 gorillas.

Unfortunately, Dian Fossey was not there anymore to cheer his success, since she was murdered in 1985. This indirectly led to Titus' second appearance as an actor (after he stole the show in David Attenborough's documentary), when he appeared in the 1988 movie Gorillas in the Mist, based on Fossey's life.

Success story

Notwithstanding Titus's success as an actor and a king, the gorillas also faced many challenges, mainly from poachers killing silverbacks either for meat or trophies such as the head and paws, or to steal babies to sell them. There was also pressure on the land for agriculture, unsustainable harvesting of wood for fuel and other human activities which brought with them the danger of contamination by human diseases which might wipe out a whole group. And there was of course the instability, war and genocide of the 90s.

However, as peace and security were re-established, the tide also turned for the silverbacks, whose numbers seem on the rise. Indeed, a 2003 census of Virunga Volcanoes mountain gorilla population (i.e. those living in the protected area shared by Rwanda, Uganda and the DRC) shows that, despite the turmoil of the 90s, there has been a 17% increase since 1989; their number is now estimated at some 380 (compared to only 250 in 1981). In Bwindi in Uganda, meanwhile, a 1997 estimate put the number at around 300.

Another indicator of success in Rwanda is the fact that Volcanoes National Park is home to the only surviving gorilla twins, which were born in 2004.

So even though the numbers are still low (in the 50s, there were supposedly between 400 and 500 gorillas in Virunga) and many challenges remain in the protection of the gorillas and the preservation of their habitat, there seems to be reason for optimism. As Rosette Rugamba, deputy CEO at RDB in charge of tourism and conservation, remarked last week: "Titus was really one of our success stories - every year we celebrate that this species is still alive. Gorillas are more valued, more protected and the numbers are growing."

Ian Redmond echoed these sentiments when he said: "Titus's death from natural causes at 35 is also a triumph for conservation - how wonderful that we humans have been able to leave him the space to flourish and become the most successful silverback on record, then grow old and die surrounded by his family."

Talking about success: in old age, he managed to secure his biggest acting role. In 2008, both the BBC and the American Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) broadcast a British documentary entitled "Gorilla King," dedicated entirely to Titus. A fitting tribute to a King.

http://focus.rw
 

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