On April 15, an unexpected event occurred with silverback gorilla Inshuti, one of the long-time solitary males monitored throughout his life by Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund teams in Rwanda – he formed a new group. This was surprising due to Inshuti’s advanced age and especially interesting because of the unique composition of the group, with just two young gorillas.
Karame and Mubyeyi, at just 5 and 3 years old, recently became separated from Kureba’s group and were too young to survive without an adult’s protection. While they were searching for several weeks for their original group, these two brave orphans encountered Inshuti, who has since offered them protection.
Inshuti, who was born in 1988, is a notable gorilla whose life had already taken a unique trajectory. He was part of Group 5, one of the first known gorilla groups, studied originally by Dian Fossey. After Group 5 split in 1993, Inshuti followed silverback Shinda. In 2003, he left to live a solitary life but showed great determination to form his own group. However, despite many attempts, he struggled to keep females with him.
Females commonly transfer among groups, but little is known about why females stay longer in some groups and, as with Inshuti, why they don’t stay for very long at all.
Inshuti and the two young orphans eating together.
Solitary, impressive, intimidating
During his solitary years, Inshuti grew to a remarkable size and developed an intimidating personality, leading to numerous conflicts with neighboring groups. He survived severe injuries from fights with other male gorillas, who were trying to prevent him from taking females.
On one occasion in 2004, while interacting with Beetsme’s group, which had 26 gorillas at the time, we witnessed the entire group charging and attacking Inshuti, leaving him severely wounded. This, however, did not stop him. After a few weeks of recovery, he attempted again, soon earning the record of the lone silverback with the highest encounter rate.
Inshuti’s determination finally paid off in 2007 when he formed a stable group. He also calmed down, but the group lasted only until 2012, leaving him with just one female who also left, in 2014. Since then, Inshuti lived alone again for a second, longer phase of solitary life. His encounters with other groups became sporadic.
So it is with great surprise that now, after a decade alone, Inshuti is leading a group again, albeit a small one with an unusual composition. The internal dynamics of Inshuti’s new group are also unique. It took weeks for Karame and Mubyeyi to trust Inshuti. Initially, they stayed close to each other, keeping their distance from the silverback. Gradually, they began to trust him, and recently, they have been seen in physical contact with Inshuti.
Inshuti displaying his strength and dominance by hitting the ground.
Inshuti running after another lone silverback, with the orphans following behind.
It’s remarkable to see Inshuti protecting his young group members. This event sheds light on the resilience of gorillas to adversity and how they adapt to unusual situations. And in the meantime, Inshuti gained another record — the oldest silverback to form a group!
This article is part of a series presented by the Fossey Fund’s gorilla program Senior Advisor Veronica Vecellio, focusing on the mountain gorillas the Fossey Fund protects and studies every day in Rwanda. Veronica has worked with these gorilla families for 20 years and shares her deep knowledge and insights about their lives.
