Gorillas in the Mist by Fossey Dian

Author:Fossey, Dian
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orion

7

The Natural Demise of Two Gorilla Families: Groups 8 and 9

DURING THE FIRST TWO MONTHS of study at Karisoke, my daily contacts with the gorillas were fairly evenly distributed between Group 4—which ranged on the southwestern and western Visoke slopes under the leadership of a silverback I had named Whinny—and Group 5—led by Beethoven on the southeastern mountain slopes. The composition of the two groups totaled 29 animals, but half of them had not been fully identified, and I could only speculate about the degrees of relatedness between the older individuals. My speculations were based on the frequencies of close affiliative associations between group members compared with aggressive, antagonistic reactions. Physical similarities such as noseprints, hair coloring, and evidence of syndactyly or strabismus were also extremely important in determining kinship ties within any group. The cohesive nature of gorilla groups fortunately provides one with a high degree of reliability regarding each offspring’s sire. The early days of the research were spent trying to clarify the composition of the two main groups and seeking clues that would reveal the genetic connections between the individuals of the study groups available to me.

In this period, a third group entered the study area for the first time since my arrival and was subsequently named Group 8. (Group 6 was a fringe group; “Group 7” was a mistake—a failure to recognize Group 5 members on an occasion when they were feeding apart from one another.) I first saw Group 8 through binoculars from some five hundred feet up on Visoke’s slopes. Even at that distance it was possible to distinguish an extensively silvered old male, a young silverback, a handsome blackback in his prime, two young males, and, bringing up the rear, a doddering old female. Unaware of my presence, they slowly ambled and fed throughout the nettle zone adjacent to Visoke’s slopes before crossing a wide cattle trail that led into the forest. While watching the group I could not help being impressed by the manner in which all of the animals periodically paused in their feeding to allow the elderly female to catch up with them.

The following day I tracked Group 8 into the saddle area west of Visoke and contacted them from a distance of about sixty feet. They gave me the calmest reception I had ever received from an unhabituated group. The first individual to acknowledge my presence was the young silverback, who strutted onto a rock and stared with compressed lips before going off to feed. I named him Pugnacious, Pug for short. He was followed by the extremely attractive blackback, who nipped off a leaf to hold between his lips for a few seconds before spitting it out, a common displacement activity known as symbolic feeding and indicative of mild unease. After whacking at some vegetation, the magnificent male swaggered out of sight into dense foliage seemingly quite pleased with himself. I named him Samson. Next, the two young adults scampered into view and impishly flipped over on to

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