0:00:22 > 0:00:27High on the Virunga volcanoes of Rwanda lives a lost tribe.
0:00:29 > 0:00:32One of our closest living relatives,
0:00:32 > 0:00:34the mountain gorilla.
0:00:38 > 0:00:45This is a dangerous mountain and no more so than for one silverback,
0:00:45 > 0:00:46known as Titus.
0:00:49 > 0:00:51He's seen his close kin murdered.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55He's been orphaned, abandoned by his mother.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57He should have died.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01But against all the odds, he managed to triumph.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08For the first time, we can piece together his story and reveal how
0:01:08 > 0:01:12his tribe have won such a cherished place in human hearts.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16Titus is, for now,
0:01:16 > 0:01:19King of the Mountain.
0:01:19 > 0:01:25His life is a unique window into the world of the mountain gorilla.
0:01:35 > 0:01:37VOLCANO ERUPTS
0:01:47 > 0:01:51The mountain gorilla's story starts hundreds of thousands of years ago
0:01:51 > 0:01:53when the volcanoes of the Eastern Congo erupted.
0:02:01 > 0:02:06For the gorillas that lived there, it was time to flee or die.
0:02:10 > 0:02:15Some of them found a new home, rising high into the clouds.
0:02:18 > 0:02:23Freezing cold, battered daily by torrential rain,
0:02:23 > 0:02:26generations of gorillas had to adapt.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29The lowland gorillas changed.
0:02:36 > 0:02:41They grew larger, strong enough to climb almost 4,000 metres
0:02:41 > 0:02:44to the freezing summit of their new home.
0:02:45 > 0:02:50Their coats grew thicker with hair up to six inches long.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55Deprived of lowland forest fruits,
0:02:55 > 0:02:58they learned how to harvest this strange world.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04They became the kings of the Virungas.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17Now humans climb the steep slopes daily,
0:03:17 > 0:03:21heading towards the last survivors of the species.
0:03:23 > 0:03:25THUNDER CLAPS
0:03:29 > 0:03:31Each day starts with a search party.
0:03:37 > 0:03:42Trackers, whose skills have been handed down from father to son,
0:03:42 > 0:03:46leading researchers who follow in the footsteps
0:03:46 > 0:03:48of those that have come before them.
0:03:54 > 0:03:59At 3,000 metres, the air is so thin, it's hard to breathe.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09Only by following the gorillas day after day can scientists
0:04:09 > 0:04:14understand their subtle, slowly evolving relationships.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18Now you can hear that they are feeding on the bamboo shoot.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21You can hear this noise, crunch, crunch.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26Yeah, yeah, they're just in this stretch of bamboo.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38Italian, Veronica Vecellio, and Rwandan, Felix Ndagijimana
0:04:38 > 0:04:41are on the trail of Titus,
0:04:41 > 0:04:45the male silverback, whose leadership qualities are legendary.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50He's 33 years old
0:04:50 > 0:04:54and still ruling over 25 gorillas - an impressive feat.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59Most silverbacks his age would have been deposed by now.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06He has a distinctive orange brow,
0:05:06 > 0:05:10and he rules with the cool, calm demeanour of an elder statesman.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17Wise and powerful, he commands by his sheer presence.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26He has ten females,
0:05:26 > 0:05:30four males, six teenagers and four youngsters to look after.
0:05:32 > 0:05:37There's another big silverback in the group, Kuryama.
0:05:37 > 0:05:42Titus' second in command, he's a crucial ally.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45Without powerful males like him,
0:05:45 > 0:05:49Titus could not keep his group safe from outsiders.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54He needs Kuryama,
0:05:54 > 0:05:57but Kuryama could be aiming for his crown.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Everybody is here except Ugenda,
0:06:03 > 0:06:08Kwiruka, Inziza, Fat and Imvune.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14Felix and Veronica observe and record every minute
0:06:14 > 0:06:15of what is happening around them.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22Today they've walked in on a fight between Titus and Kuryama.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28GORILLAS FIGHTING
0:06:41 > 0:06:46If we're in the middle of a fight, can be dangerous also for us.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49So it's better to keep us more aside as possible
0:06:49 > 0:06:53so to leave them the space to do whatever they want to do.
0:06:56 > 0:07:01He's going to beat him. He's going to kick his arse.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12Recently, Felix and Veronica have
0:07:12 > 0:07:16been witnessing outbursts of violence between Titus and Kuryama.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28And it's rippling down through the group. Everyone is becoming edgy.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42It's not what the researchers have come to expect
0:07:42 > 0:07:43from the dignified Titus.
0:07:45 > 0:07:50We always describe him as so calm and soppy
0:07:50 > 0:07:52and now the first day that you arrive...
0:07:54 > 0:07:57Normally, no, it's not so common.
0:08:00 > 0:08:05Veronica and Felix may be witnessing the end of the king's great reign.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11And if they are, all his subjects will be affected.
0:08:13 > 0:08:18No-one has ever seen a take-over of such a large group.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23And a battle for his crown could cause the females to leave
0:08:23 > 0:08:25and send everything into chaos.
0:08:28 > 0:08:33If this is the final challenge, it's the end of a remarkable era.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39Titus' story is not just an insight
0:08:39 > 0:08:42into the ebb and flow of gorilla life.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47It is also a key to understanding
0:08:47 > 0:08:50what is happening in Titus' life today.
0:09:01 > 0:09:06His rule has been developed over a lifetime of experiences.
0:09:06 > 0:09:11But to look into an animal's 30-year past, to watch the development
0:09:11 > 0:09:16of a character year upon year, is very rare in wildlife research.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20Except for here in the Virungas.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26Titus is special in one other way.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30There has been someone watching over him since the day he was born.
0:09:34 > 0:09:40Veronica and Felix are the latest in a long relay of researchers
0:09:40 > 0:09:42that stretches back to 1967.
0:09:46 > 0:09:51It was from this small hut that Dian Fossey started a research program
0:09:51 > 0:09:54that would become one of the most detailed studies
0:09:54 > 0:09:56of a wild creature ever undertaken.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05It was the group led by Titus' parents
0:10:05 > 0:10:08that first allowed Dian into the gorillas' world.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12She became close to them,
0:10:12 > 0:10:16even naming them Bert and Flossie after her own uncle and aunt.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24Dian told the world their intimate story...
0:10:25 > 0:10:28..teaching us that gorillas are not monsters,
0:10:28 > 0:10:32but social beings full of curiosity and affection.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39From Dian's original notes all the way through
0:10:39 > 0:10:43to the computerised observations that Veronica and Felix
0:10:43 > 0:10:47are making today, there is a 40-year paper trail.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51And hidden within all this science,
0:10:51 > 0:10:55the story of Titus' extraordinary rise to power.
0:10:59 > 0:11:03Sometimes there is no film of the saga,
0:11:03 > 0:11:07but by piecing together moments from the record, we can reconstruct
0:11:07 > 0:11:11the remarkable ups and downs of Titus' life...
0:11:13 > 0:11:18..and start to understand how the king's future may unfold.
0:11:27 > 0:11:33Titus' story starts in 1974, when Dian introduced
0:11:33 > 0:11:36a young researcher named Kelly Stewart to the gorillas.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40You can smell...
0:11:40 > 0:11:4333 years later,
0:11:43 > 0:11:48rereading her notes transports Kelly back to a moment on the mountain.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52"Uncle Bert the silverback is within five metres of me,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55"but obscured, hidden behind bushes.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58"Cleo, who was Titus' sister..."
0:11:58 > 0:12:03On that August afternoon in 1974, Kelly was to experience something
0:12:03 > 0:12:06only a handful of people have ever seen.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09"She gives a CB," which is a chest beat.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11Turning over the pages
0:12:11 > 0:12:16of her notebook, the scientific tone is suddenly transformed.
0:12:17 > 0:12:22"Nine minutes later, Flossie is looking up at me.
0:12:22 > 0:12:26"At 1.11, she moves and against her breast
0:12:26 > 0:12:29"I see a tiny pink ear, just for a moment.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32"A flash of tiny hands.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35"I think, "No, it can't be".
0:12:35 > 0:12:38""I think I am hallucinating."
0:12:38 > 0:12:40"Then I see the baby on her nipple.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43"I watch for three to four minutes.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45"Yes! Flossie has a baby!"
0:12:45 > 0:12:48Exclamation point, exclamation point.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51That is how I felt. That is exactly how I felt.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59"I see the little baby's head again.
0:12:59 > 0:13:04"Oh, my caution, and oh, my dear sweet little lordship."
0:13:04 > 0:13:07I really did feel like that, it was so tiny.
0:13:16 > 0:13:22At the time, I was reading a book called 'Titus Groan'.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26A very common phrase she used was, "Oh, my caution"
0:13:26 > 0:13:32when she saw her baby. And that book was creeping into my writing.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36And Titus was named after 'Titus Groan'.
0:13:37 > 0:13:43And there's been someone watching over Titus ever since.
0:13:51 > 0:13:5533 years later, the survival of his children
0:13:55 > 0:13:59depends upon his skills as a protector.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01His ability to fight off other males
0:14:01 > 0:14:05is the difference between life and death for infants like this.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09If an outsider takes over, he will kill them
0:14:09 > 0:14:11in order to sire his own children.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17A baby is very vulnerable, clinging to its mother
0:14:17 > 0:14:22for the first five months, it will scarcely let go for a second.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26Only at two years old do they have the emotional security
0:14:26 > 0:14:29to start to develop the inclination and energy for mischief.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35BABY GORILLAS SCREAM
0:14:51 > 0:14:54Titus leads his group through his hidden world.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01It spans two countries. Rwanda on this side of the mountain.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05Democratic Republic of Congo on the other.
0:15:11 > 0:15:13His lifetime knowledge of the plants
0:15:13 > 0:15:18and the seasons are the key to his group's existence.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27His kingdom stretches from alpine meadows of giant lobelias
0:15:27 > 0:15:30down to valleys of dense bamboo.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34It's an isolated world and many animals,
0:15:34 > 0:15:39like the Virungas' golden monkeys, exist nowhere else.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44At this time of year, Titus
0:15:44 > 0:15:47joins them to cash in on the bamboo's new shoots.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18Special skills are needed to keep a 400lb silverback
0:16:18 > 0:16:22going on salad alone.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26Salami-sized fingers fold thistles and nettles into neat
0:16:26 > 0:16:31little packages to keep barbs and stings away from sensitive lips.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37And when Titus finds a particularly
0:16:37 > 0:16:40good slope to harvest, he will start to sing.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42TITUS SINGS
0:16:42 > 0:16:45And one-by-one, the entire group joins in.
0:16:47 > 0:16:48A gorilla choir.
0:16:48 > 0:16:49GORILLA NOISES
0:17:16 > 0:17:19All the feeding has created a temporary truce between
0:17:19 > 0:17:21Titus and Kuryama.
0:17:23 > 0:17:28Today researchers never get as close to the gorillas as Dian used to.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32The risk of gorillas catching human infections is too great.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34The apes are too vulnerable.
0:17:34 > 0:17:37Here is a nice moment.
0:17:37 > 0:17:42Because there's Titus with Kuryama.
0:17:45 > 0:17:50Now Titus is sleeping with Papoose, that is the mother of Kuryama.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53It's a little family moment.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56It's sweet.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04Veronica understands Titus intimately.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12Imitating the gorillas' vocalisation
0:18:12 > 0:18:15and knowing when to avoid eye contact
0:18:15 > 0:18:18is all part of becoming an ignored presence.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24It's like following a complex soap opera
0:18:24 > 0:18:27and understanding Titus' power as a leader is about
0:18:27 > 0:18:31understanding the web of friendships that he's developed over years.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38When Titus was young,
0:18:38 > 0:18:41researchers were only just beginning to understand this.
0:18:43 > 0:18:49Ian Redmond joined Dian in 1976, when Titus was two years old.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53And he's always had a soft spot for Titus.
0:18:53 > 0:18:58Titus is special to me because he was the first gorilla I ever saw.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02And the reason I saw him first was as we were approaching this thicket,
0:19:02 > 0:19:06a little black furry thing climbed up a tree and it was Titus
0:19:06 > 0:19:08being chased by his younger brother, Kweli.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10And in order to see the rest of the family,
0:19:10 > 0:19:13we had to get back down on our hands and knees and
0:19:13 > 0:19:17crawl under the thicket and we kind of emerged into this little glade.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20And it was like joining a family picnic.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27Ian came into Titus' life at a crucial moment.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30A time when observations of the group would challenge
0:19:30 > 0:19:33our assumptions about the way gorillas lived.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38Adolescent males are called blackbacks
0:19:38 > 0:19:42because they've not yet grown their distinctive saddle of silver hair.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47We now know that young males in a group like this
0:19:47 > 0:19:50are life-long friends or relations
0:19:50 > 0:19:53and they will not tolerate an outsider.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58To this day, it's considered almost impossible
0:19:58 > 0:20:02for a young male to enter a group from the outside,
0:20:02 > 0:20:04but it has happened once.
0:20:06 > 0:20:12On 27th January 1976, a shabby looking blackback
0:20:12 > 0:20:18just like this one ambled out of the forest unchallenged.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31It had never been known for a male to join a group.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35Usually females left the group to join another group,
0:20:35 > 0:20:37and males left the group to find females.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40So it was a great surprise when this individual
0:20:40 > 0:20:42turned up in the group almost mature.
0:20:42 > 0:20:43In fact Dian had a guest with her
0:20:43 > 0:20:47that day and he asked her who that was and she said "Beats me!"
0:20:47 > 0:20:50And Beetsme became the name of this
0:20:50 > 0:20:53rather shabby looking shambling blackback.
0:20:53 > 0:20:58A little bit older than the blackback already in the group, Tiger.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01And Tiger and Beetsme used to play together, quite rough.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04Chasing each other, thumping each other, wrestling
0:21:04 > 0:21:06and you'd see them, "Argh, argh, argh, argh,"
0:21:06 > 0:21:09laughing and chuckling, all in good nature but quite
0:21:09 > 0:21:12heavy thumps by the look of it. And you'd see
0:21:12 > 0:21:14Titus and Kweli watching this and you
0:21:14 > 0:21:19can see role models in their minds, "I'm going to be doing that soon."
0:21:24 > 0:21:27The young Titus struck up a bond with the stranger
0:21:27 > 0:21:29right from the very start.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36And as Titus faced the blackest period of his life, it was this
0:21:36 > 0:21:41relationship with Beetsme that would be more crucial than any other.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48GORILLA SCREAMS
0:21:48 > 0:21:51Poaching is always a threat to gorillas.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56The end of the '70s
0:21:56 > 0:22:00was a terrible time for the study groups of Karisoke.
0:22:09 > 0:22:16And in 1977, Titus lost his uncle. It was Digit, Dian's favourite.
0:22:19 > 0:22:24This looks like a beautiful sunny glade.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27But this path down here, on 3rd January 1978,
0:22:27 > 0:22:32was the scene of what looked like a funeral cortege.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37I saw men bringing, on their shoulders, not a coffin,
0:22:37 > 0:22:41but two poles and strapped to those poles, the body of Digit.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43His head and his hands had been cut off.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47And he was brought down, and they then carried him round the bamboo
0:22:47 > 0:22:50and to the front area where Dian came out of the cabin
0:22:50 > 0:22:53and saw someone she'd known from infancy.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02At that stage in my life, the worst thing that had happened to me.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04It was like finding the body of a friend -
0:23:04 > 0:23:06headless, handless, hacked about.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12For Dian, the shock was even worse
0:23:12 > 0:23:15because she had known him for so long. He was such a close friend.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19It was obvious that he had died
0:23:19 > 0:23:23defending the family from the poachers.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26And Dian didn't burst into tears. There was no histrionics.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28It was almost like a shutter went down behind her eyes
0:23:28 > 0:23:31as she absorbed the impact of what had happened.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46But Digit's death was just the beginning.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49This man witnessed a traumatic event
0:23:49 > 0:23:54that would alter the course of young Titus' life forever.
0:23:58 > 0:24:03David Watts has followed Titus more than any other researcher.
0:24:03 > 0:24:08But in 1978, David had only been on the mountain a few months
0:24:08 > 0:24:11when he came upon some worrying signs in the forest.
0:24:11 > 0:24:16I still vividly remember going out that morning. I was by myself.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20What I saw was a trail of all of the rest of the gorillas,
0:24:20 > 0:24:26who obviously had been moving fast and were upset by something.
0:24:26 > 0:24:31And I started to follow that and saw what we called "fear dung",
0:24:31 > 0:24:33bad diarrhoea, along the trail.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39Then suddenly I saw a large black thing lying on the trail ahead,
0:24:39 > 0:24:41and I quickly realised it was a gorilla
0:24:41 > 0:24:43and then I knew it's a dead gorilla.
0:24:45 > 0:24:49And then I found that it was Uncle Bert, who had
0:24:49 > 0:24:54clearly stayed in the rear as the group fled and must have turned to
0:24:54 > 0:24:59face the poachers and tried to drive them away. And they shot him.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07Titus' father had been decapitated.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12And there was worse to come
0:25:12 > 0:25:17when the young Beetsme realised that all the silverbacks were gone.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22Beetsme seemed to understand that Uncle Bert was gone.
0:25:22 > 0:25:23He wasn't coming back.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27And saw an opportunity now to try to make this his group.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29He became extremely aggressive,
0:25:29 > 0:25:32particularly to Flossie, Titus' mother.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35And Flossie had this very young infant, Frito.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39And he charged at Flossie, and Flossie went up
0:25:39 > 0:25:44like this to try to fend him off and she had her infant in her arm.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47And he hit the baby on the back.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58Flossie carried her dead infant for two days.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14It was Beetsme's bid to take over the group and it failed.
0:26:18 > 0:26:25At the first opportunity, Flossie and Cleo, Titus's older sister, left.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28So now Titus had quickly lost his father
0:26:28 > 0:26:31and then his mother, and then his sister.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39Titus' group disintegrated.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48For a gorilla group without a silverback,
0:26:48 > 0:26:50without reproductive females, it's over.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52There is no family life.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56So Titus lost that security of a normal upbringing as a young gorilla.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58And found himself pretty much like a schoolboy
0:26:58 > 0:27:02being thrown onto the streets of a big city and having to survive.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12Titus was just four years old.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14An orphan in the forest.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18There was only one other gorilla to turn to.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22And that was the beginning of this extraordinary relationship
0:27:22 > 0:27:25between Titus and the blackback, Beetsme,
0:27:25 > 0:27:26who killed his little sister.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32While there are almost no images from the time
0:27:32 > 0:27:36Titus spent with Beetsme, the notes tell a detailed story.
0:27:36 > 0:27:41And it's an introduction to a whole new side of gorilla behaviour.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51First it was just Beetsme and Titus,
0:27:51 > 0:27:55but then they were joined by five other males.
0:27:55 > 0:28:00The researchers had never witnessed a situation like it.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03A new kind of group, all male.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16They formed this bachelor group of about seven animals
0:28:16 > 0:28:19that really stayed together, Titus, Beetsme
0:28:19 > 0:28:23and a silverback, Peanuts, who were together for years.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40They had a dominance hierarchy based on age.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43And they occasionally would have this
0:28:43 > 0:28:46odd sexual interactions going on that we never saw
0:28:46 > 0:28:50in breeding groups where there was more than one male.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53We didn't see the kind of homosexual behaviour
0:28:53 > 0:28:57that occurred in this band of bachelors.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01Yeah, there weren't any females around.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06It stayed like this for eight years.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10But in 1985, the death of a silverback in another group
0:29:10 > 0:29:13meant that five females came to join the bachelors
0:29:13 > 0:29:16and this brought everything to a head.
0:29:33 > 0:29:38Six males could stay together so long as there were no females there.
0:29:38 > 0:29:40But not when they now had females.
0:29:45 > 0:29:50Titus found himself in the middle of a battle for supremacy.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56Unlike when he killed Flossie's baby,
0:29:56 > 0:29:59this time, Beetsme was a full sized silverback
0:29:59 > 0:30:01and there was no doubting his power.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08One by one he drove off the males
0:30:08 > 0:30:10and killed two of the females' infants.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14It was classic takeover tactics.
0:30:14 > 0:30:17But in one respect, he behaved unexpectedly.
0:30:17 > 0:30:23He allowed Titus, the potential young rival, to stay.
0:30:25 > 0:30:30Maybe he needed his friend, Titus, to help keep his new group together.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33But the arrangement backfired on Beetsme
0:30:33 > 0:30:36because the dominant female, Papoose,
0:30:36 > 0:30:38had designs on the handsome young Titus.
0:30:38 > 0:30:43The only trouble was that after all this time in the wilderness,
0:30:43 > 0:30:46Titus didn't quite know how to react.
0:30:46 > 0:30:48He hasn't seen a female, essentially.
0:30:48 > 0:30:53And doesn't quite know what he's supposed to do.
0:30:53 > 0:30:58And a couple of times I saw her solicit meetings,
0:30:58 > 0:31:01and he responded by mounting her.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05But she had to then reach around behind her and try to
0:31:05 > 0:31:07reposition him, and back into him,
0:31:07 > 0:31:12so that he could figure out exactly what he was supposed to do.
0:31:12 > 0:31:17Titus' affairs, behind Beetsme's back, offered a new researcher the
0:31:17 > 0:31:23opportunity to compare the success of these two competing males.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26The question then is, well, what's actually going on between
0:31:26 > 0:31:30these males, and most importantly, who's actually siring the offspring?
0:31:32 > 0:31:37For Martha Robbins, it was becoming clear that female preferences
0:31:37 > 0:31:41have a huge influence over who gets to be a dad.
0:31:41 > 0:31:42It makes you wonder, well,
0:31:42 > 0:31:45what do females find attractive in silverbacks?
0:31:45 > 0:31:48And it may be more than actually who's dominant.
0:31:48 > 0:31:50There may be other characteristics.
0:31:50 > 0:31:52Even to human observers,
0:31:52 > 0:31:56Titus is known to have a strong symmetrical face.
0:31:56 > 0:31:58A sign of fitness.
0:31:59 > 0:32:01On a personal opinion, yes,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04I would say Titus is more handsome than Beetsme.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09No, I mean Titus is a handsome silverback.
0:32:09 > 0:32:11You can get me on film saying that!
0:32:16 > 0:32:21Whether Titus was more of a hunk than Beetsme is serious science.
0:32:21 > 0:32:25But the only way to know who is fathering which babies
0:32:25 > 0:32:27is a paternity test.
0:32:29 > 0:32:33By extracting the DNA, the researchers were able
0:32:33 > 0:32:38to start to map out the family tree of an individual.
0:32:38 > 0:32:41But it would take 16 years before scientists
0:32:41 > 0:32:44could unravel the extent of Titus' dynasty.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51He was going behind Beetsme's back when he was 11.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54Now he's 33, and he faces the same threat
0:32:54 > 0:32:57with a young male like Kuryama.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04Females align themselves to their leader,
0:33:04 > 0:33:08openly soliciting mating from Titus, when they are in oestrus.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15But they also like to confuse the other males into believing
0:33:15 > 0:33:19that they may also be the father of their children.
0:33:19 > 0:33:24So, secret liaisons with a silverback like Kuryama
0:33:24 > 0:33:26are arranged out of sight of the king.
0:33:40 > 0:33:44It's a clever strategy, but you don't want to get caught out.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50No wonder Titus is stressed.
0:34:00 > 0:34:04Biting a female is really out of character.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12Ah, she has a bad wound.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15She has a bad wound, here.
0:34:15 > 0:34:20Upper eyes, and also in the back of the head.
0:34:24 > 0:34:29For all those that study Titus, his calm, confident rule
0:34:29 > 0:34:32has been his one overriding trait.
0:34:32 > 0:34:36Today's display of violence is maybe another sign
0:34:36 > 0:34:39that he's starting to lose his grip on power.
0:34:39 > 0:34:43Kuryama can sense that his time is coming.
0:34:51 > 0:34:55Posing, he displays his strength.
0:34:55 > 0:34:59Titus pretends not to notice.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03Felix and Veronica are recording a power shift.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07What form the challenge for leadership will take
0:35:07 > 0:35:09remains to be seen.
0:35:14 > 0:35:17Footage of takeover battles is rare.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20A male can be driven away for good,
0:35:20 > 0:35:23or bitten so badly, he never recovers.
0:35:25 > 0:35:3018 years ago, when Titus took over from Beetsme, he surprised
0:35:30 > 0:35:34all the researchers by somehow orchestrating a bloodless coup.
0:35:37 > 0:35:41Their bond of friendship won through, and Beetsme stood down.
0:35:49 > 0:35:54After the challenge, after a lot of aggression, a lot of fighting,
0:35:54 > 0:35:57after everything was sorted out, Titus was now the dominant male.
0:35:57 > 0:35:59He was fully grown.
0:35:59 > 0:36:05He was then 18 years old and in his prime, and impressive and strong.
0:36:05 > 0:36:09Titus was the centre, and he was in charge.
0:36:11 > 0:36:16It was 1991, and the king was crowned.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20Given his unpromising start in life,
0:36:20 > 0:36:22it was a truly remarkable achievement,
0:36:22 > 0:36:25to create his own group.
0:36:25 > 0:36:27Only 60% of the gorillas born on this mountain
0:36:27 > 0:36:30even make it to adulthood.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34Only a handful of survivors take over a group of their own.
0:36:39 > 0:36:44After 17 difficult years, Titus had finally made it to the top.
0:36:46 > 0:36:47But as he triumphed,
0:36:47 > 0:36:53the world around him descended into the chaos of the Rwandan Civil War.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59For decades, people had followed Titus
0:36:59 > 0:37:02and the research gorillas of Karisoke,
0:37:02 > 0:37:05but then the study had to stop.
0:37:08 > 0:37:10It's the only gap in the record.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16A terrible silence that stands testament
0:37:16 > 0:37:20to the madness that overran the plains below.
0:37:23 > 0:37:28900,000 people died in 100 days.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33Even for those who studied them, day in and day out,
0:37:33 > 0:37:36the gorillas could no longer be their first thought.
0:37:47 > 0:37:49In April and May of 1994, I was, of course,
0:37:49 > 0:37:53very concerned about the gorillas and what was happening.
0:37:53 > 0:37:57But it made me think we have allowed the genocide
0:37:57 > 0:37:59to happen in the first place.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02And people are saying "Oh, the gorillas, the poor gorillas,
0:38:02 > 0:38:05"what's happening to the gorillas?" And I, I really...
0:38:05 > 0:38:08I have a hard time understanding that.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19The war and instability lasted ten years.
0:38:19 > 0:38:22Despite the violence, Rwandan Park staff
0:38:22 > 0:38:26risked their lives to keep up with the gorillas.
0:38:27 > 0:38:31But there was one 15-month period with no contact at all.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37Just after the genocide,
0:38:37 > 0:38:41Ian joined a Rwandan team to try to find the gorillas.
0:38:49 > 0:38:54And the first group they came upon was Titus'.
0:39:01 > 0:39:04Throughout all this turmoil, the gorillas had just been
0:39:04 > 0:39:06going about their lives.
0:39:06 > 0:39:10Obviously, avoiding the areas where different sides
0:39:10 > 0:39:13were shooting at each other. And it was a tremendous sense of
0:39:13 > 0:39:17relief to find that most of them had survived, and not only that.
0:39:17 > 0:39:20Shortly before we'd arrived, a new baby had been born.
0:39:20 > 0:39:22So, life was going on.
0:39:26 > 0:39:31Titus did not just survive the war, his group had grown in number.
0:39:39 > 0:39:43Stability has returned to Rwanda.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51The National Park staff and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund
0:39:51 > 0:39:57are now protecting a population of 350 gorillas that is increasing.
0:40:01 > 0:40:03And in Titus' story today,
0:40:03 > 0:40:06the rangers are organising a search party.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11Titus has moved so fast up the mountain,
0:40:11 > 0:40:13he's left the humans behind.
0:40:16 > 0:40:21They're concerned that he may have travelled into unprotected areas.
0:40:21 > 0:40:24In the last year alone, ten dead gorillas have been
0:40:24 > 0:40:28recovered on the other side of the volcanoes, in the Congo.
0:40:45 > 0:40:49He's taken his group to the very top of his world.
0:40:59 > 0:41:05At 3,700 metres, Mount Visoke is like another universe.
0:41:21 > 0:41:25It's rare for the gorillas ever to enter the crater,
0:41:25 > 0:41:29but for a moment, the lake seems to captivate them.
0:41:37 > 0:41:38I don't know.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41I always have the impression that they really are enjoying...
0:41:41 > 0:41:44Because sometimes, they can stay also a few minutes
0:41:44 > 0:41:46just looking to the lake.
0:41:46 > 0:41:50And I like to think they are enjoying the view.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11Since Dian Fossey first entered this world
0:42:11 > 0:42:15and overturned the gorillas' fearsome reputation,
0:42:15 > 0:42:20we've discovered that gorillas are highly intelligent social beings.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23Characters that shape their own destinies.
0:42:26 > 0:42:30Felix and Veronica are keen to keep up with the ongoing saga
0:42:30 > 0:42:32of Titus and Kuryama.
0:42:32 > 0:42:37The two silverbacks are still uneasy about each other.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59Look how Kuryama is dominant.
0:43:02 > 0:43:07Kuryama just approach him and they start to vocalise.
0:43:07 > 0:43:11And actually, at the end, he took the place of Titus,
0:43:11 > 0:43:12and Titus had to move away.
0:43:16 > 0:43:21For Kuryama to displace Titus in this way may not seem like much
0:43:21 > 0:43:25to us, but gorilla body language speaks volumes.
0:43:26 > 0:43:30They can only come to the top of the mountain for a matter of days.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33Temperatures can drop well below freezing.
0:43:33 > 0:43:38And if they stay too long, the infants may die.
0:43:42 > 0:43:46And Titus seems to be keeping them too long.
0:43:50 > 0:43:54The group awaits a decision from their leader,
0:43:54 > 0:43:58but just who is in charge is becoming less and less clear.
0:44:01 > 0:44:07Tired of waiting, Kuryama takes his own lead, and the others follow.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30The group has split.
0:44:30 > 0:44:32Kuryama may be dismantling
0:44:32 > 0:44:35one of the greatest groups of gorillas ever recorded.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40Surrounded only by his most loyal subjects,
0:44:40 > 0:44:44Titus sits on the top of his island world.
0:44:54 > 0:44:57That night, Titus and his beleaguered band
0:44:57 > 0:45:01head over the border, travelling deep into the Congo,
0:45:01 > 0:45:03where the researchers cannot follow.
0:45:07 > 0:45:11It's a few more missing pages in the record of his life.
0:45:11 > 0:45:16Maybe the final chapter of his story will be lost to the jungle.
0:45:20 > 0:45:24He's taught us what it takes to rule this mountain.
0:45:29 > 0:45:33As this archive shows, he was a formidable silverback.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38For a male gorilla, success is all about
0:45:38 > 0:45:43passing your particular genetic code to as many offspring as possible.
0:45:46 > 0:45:49And as the DNA results are analysed,
0:45:49 > 0:45:52they reveal some startling discoveries.
0:45:54 > 0:45:57It turns out that Titus conceived his first offspring
0:45:57 > 0:46:00younger than any other known gorilla.
0:46:00 > 0:46:05It was the result of his secret mating with Papoose.
0:46:05 > 0:46:10He sired his first child right under Beetsme's nose, aged 11,
0:46:10 > 0:46:13and that child was Kuryama.
0:46:14 > 0:46:18Titus is being deposed by his own son.
0:46:21 > 0:46:23Piecing together his family tree,
0:46:23 > 0:46:26we can see the true extent of his dynasty.
0:46:29 > 0:46:34He has sired more offspring than any other mountain gorilla on record.
0:46:35 > 0:46:40His story has shown us what it takes to be a gorilla king.
0:46:40 > 0:46:45It is much more about politics than brute force.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50He's not just an ordinary gorilla.
0:46:50 > 0:46:52He's one of the longest observed gorillas,
0:46:52 > 0:46:57if not primate, or animal, in the world.
0:46:57 > 0:47:03But at the same time, Titus embodies what we need to know about gorillas.
0:47:03 > 0:47:07And what we need to understand to preserve this endangered species.
0:47:10 > 0:47:15Titus is still capable of surprises.
0:47:15 > 0:47:1823 days after disappearing into the Congo,
0:47:18 > 0:47:21he's back.
0:47:21 > 0:47:25And he has added one more to his recently depleted group.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33Shangasa just had a little baby. You can see.
0:47:33 > 0:47:38That means that she gave birth tonight, or this morning, very early.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49Titus may no longer be in charge
0:47:49 > 0:47:51of one of the largest groups on the mountain...
0:47:53 > 0:47:55..but with no other silverbacks in the group,
0:47:55 > 0:48:00the fate of this newcomer now rests solely in his hands.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08The king must reign again.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd