Film retraces life of gorilla 
Volcanoes National Park

Mountain gorilla family group in Rwanda.  Photo by Rick LoBello.

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 when The Gorilla King premiered on Sunday, April 20, 2008 on PBS.  It is available in High Definition. Academy Award-winning actor F. Murray Abraham is NATURE series narrator.

“To be able to retrace one animal’s life in the wild over more than three decades, as this film does, is a rarity in wildlife filmmaking,” said Fred Kaufman, series executive producer. “That the species is one of our closest relatives, with a fascinating social organization, makes it even more compelling.”

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 the next period of his life, Titus and five other gorillas lived in an unprecedented male-only group. That lasted about eight years, until another group’s silverback died and five females came to join the bachelors and a power struggle ensued. One by one, Beetsme drove off all the males except for Titus – who drew the affection of Papoose, the new dominant female.

In 1991, at age 17, he 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.

Recently, Titus’s rule was challenged by a leading male from the next generation, Kuryama. A leader like Titus needs powerful males like Kuryama to protect his group from outsiders, but frequent fights between the two led today’s young primatologists in the field to believe the aggressive youth was angling for Titus’s crown. The only question was whether the change in power would be hostile, as when Beetsme took over, or peaceful, as when Titus assumed the throne.

Ultimately, Kuryama avoided violence but split off with his own group. He dismantled one of the largest gorilla groups ever observed, leaving Titus surrounded by only his most loyal subjects. In the course of their study, though, scientists discovered some astonishing facts about the gorilla king. They found that Titus had sired more babies than any mountain gorilla on record. DNA testing also showed that Titus conceived his first offspring at age 11, younger than any mountain gorilla as well. And it turns out that child was Kuryama, his son from his affair with Papoose.

Now in its 26th season on PBS, NATURE has won more than 400 honors from the television industry, the international wildlife film community, parent groups, and environmental organizations – including 10 Emmys, two Peabodys and the first award given to a television program by the Sierra Club. In 2007, the series won Emmy Awards for Chimpanzees: An Unnatural History and Christmas in Yellowstone.

NATURE video podcasts, available on iTunes and at NATURE Online, range from two to 10 minutes in length and feature behind-the-scenes interviews with filmmakers and producers, program excerpts and outtakes.

Last year, to celebrate the series’ silver anniversary, NATURE Online launched a redesigned and expanded Web site. In addition to the weekly video podcasts, new features include a newsletter, streaming video clips, an RSS feed, user bulletin boards and polls, new teacher lesson plans, photo slideshows, and more. Online social networkers can join the NATURE fan group at Facebook and keep up with the latest videos, photos, and more.

The Gorilla King is a co-production of Tigress Productions Limited and Thirteen/WNET New York in association with British Broadcasting Corporation. NATURE is produced by Thirteen/WNET New York for PBS. Fred Kaufman is executive producer; William Grant is executive-in-charge. Major corporate support for NATURE is provided by Canon U.S.A., Inc. and Toyota. Additional support is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the nation’s public television stations.

The series is closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and distributed with Descriptive Video Service (DVS) for the sight-impaired.

Thirteen/WNET New York is one of the key program providers for public television, bringing such acclaimed series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, Charlie Rose, Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, Wide Angle, Secrets of the Dead, NOW With David Brancaccio, and Cyberchase – as well as the work of Bill Moyers – to audiences nationwide. As the flagship public broadcaster in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut metro area, Thirteen reaches millions of viewers each week, airing the best of American public television along with its own local productions such as The Ethnic Heritage Specials, The Thirteen Walking Tours, New York Voices, and Reel New York. Thirteen extends the impact of its television productions through educational and community outreach projects – including the Teaching and Learning Celebration – as well as Web sites and other digital media platforms. More information can be found at: www.thirteen.org.

Back to home page

New video: Battle at Kruger
Over 31 million views on YouTube