Titus Mountain Gorilla family is one of the habituated Mountain Gorillas in the volcanoes National Park, named after the Silver back Titus born during the days of Dian Fossey’ research at Karisoke which was the gorilla group Dian Fossey was studying, and named by the famous gorilla researcher Kelly Stewert who was by then observing his group at the time, after the eponymous protagonist of the Mervyn Peake novel Titus Groan.
Titus (Silver back) , and the Origin of the Titus Mountain Gorilla family in Rwanda Volcanoes
When Titus was four years old a blackback male joined his troop. He was named Beetsme by Dian Fossey when she was asked by a visiting friend who he was and replied “Beats me”. Shortly afterwards Titus’ father and dominant silverback Uncle Bert (named for Diane’s uncle) was killed by poachers. Beetsme attempted to take control of the troop, killing the infant daughter of its dominant female Aunt Flossie. However the blackback was rejected and the females left.
Titus’s turbulent life story, from an orphan to a ruler and the challenge to his throne today, is chronicled in documentary film Titus: The Gorilla King. Just at At 33 years old, he weighed over 400-pounds, Titus is notably to have ruled for nearly half his life, Quit a span that has never been accommplished by any Gorilla in the world, an astonishing feat given the early trials he faced during his child hood and along his reign of Kingship, Titus is believed to have sired more children than any other gorilla on record and by 2004 controlled the largest known gorilla troop in the world. Things fall apart, By the age thirty, Darkness started befalling into his life, his dominance was waning and he began regularly fighting with his silverback son Kuryama.
He was also observed biting a female after she was caught mating with Kuryama in secret. This was noted by researchers as being at odds with Titus’ “calm” leadership style in previous years. In the spring of 2007 Titus led his troop to the peak of a volcanic mountain. The low temperature at that altitude threatened the younger members of the group and as Titus lingered there Kuryama made a bid for dominance. He successfully displaced Titus and then led the majority of the troop, including most of the sexually mature females and their offspring, away from the mountain. Titus did not resist but was not willing to give up his dominant position and so the troop was split. Some of the older females, including the dominant female Tuck, and their infants remained with Titus, as did a young silverback named Tuyizere.
In August 2009 a new challenger emerged, Titus’ son called Rano, who now had turned 17 years of age, and had not been since for over 2 years, came back rejoining the group to claim his dominancy over the group. This stressed Titus alot and hardly slept, with Rano’s presence he could bear this, Weakened by the lack of rest, and from an infected wound caused by an early encounter with Rano, Titus soon started to show signs of illness. After more than 10 days the group finally settled down, with Rano among them. But Titus was exhausted and very ill. On 14 September 2009, he died at age 35
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.
Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda is home to a lot of mountain gorillas. The country’s tourism industry brings in the most money every year because of these gorillas. Each troop lives in a family where a Silverback is in charge.
When you book a Rwanda gorilla safari, one of the families you will see is the Titus Gorilla Group. But what is so special about this family in particular? As has always been said, primates share more than 98% of our DNA, so their traits are similar to ours. Gorillas do have emotions, personalities, and many other things. Titus, a Silverback who turned out to be the most important member of this family, is a strong and humble guy. If you are a humble person in real life, this group of trekkers would be perfect for you.
Even though this is a small family, they are one of the most interesting to follow. It lives on the sides of the Mount Karisimbi and Visoke and got its name from Titus.
Titus took his first breath at the same time that Dian Fossey was studying the Karisoke Gorilla Family. The people in his birth family were said to be strong and humble, just like this Silverback was during his 35 years on earth.
When he was young, Titus had a very hard time. Poachers killed all of his parents and siblings, which was a scary thing for him to see. But luck brought him closer to another family who raised and cared for him, even though he was born early and had trouble breathing. Titus did get past all of these problems, and he became a very strong and dominant Silverback, Titus Mountain Gorilla family
When he was older, he and other male gorillas like Beetsme started a new group, which was later joined by five female gorillas who had left their own groups. When Beetsme felt threatened, he drove away all the other male gorillas except for Titus, who became his only defense.
In 1991, a hungry and ambitious Titus surprised Beetsme by challenging him to a fight, which he won. He was in charge of the group until 2007, when his son Kuryana suddenly left to start his own family and gave him a run for his money.
Titus had more than 20 children, but as he got older and weaker, people in his group kept leaving. Titus died of natural causes when he was 35 years old. But his legacy lives on, and you can see it if you go to Titus Gorilla Group.
Titus’s family did better than any other Mountain Gorilla family. His family was set up for research, and they can only be used to track gorillas when there aren’t enough gorilla trekking permits.
