BBC Mountain Gorilla Page #2

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to studying these animals

has allowed her to gain the trust

of one gorilla in particular,

the successful silverback leader Rukina.

He leads a group of 14

that includes six females.

With so many females in his group,

silverback Rukina's life

couldn't be more different

to that of Rano back in Rwanda.

The dominant silverback claims

exclusive rights to the females

and, given the chance,

will mate every few hours.

The junior blackbacks

can only look on.

But for one little gorilla,

the temptation to get involved

is just too great.

Ten-month-old Ponoka

is the youngest in the group,

and although Rukina is probably

his father, he could be pushing his luck.

One in three gorillas die

before three years of age.

The first year is the riskiest.

Martha can't wait for little Ponoka

to reach that milestone.

Although Ponoka is the youngest

in this group,

he's not the newest arrival.

That honour goes

to a young female called Twijiki.

Females often move between groups

to avoid mating with their fathers,

and now, in Rukina's group,

the innocent-looking Twijiki

is about to cause chaos.

In Rwanda, gorilla researcher Felix

is on his way to see

the new silverback leader, Rano.

For Felix, this is a chance

to reacquaint himself

with a gorilla he knew many years ago,

and find out how the new leader

and the old female, Tuck, are getting on.

There's little doubt that

silverback Rano would love

to claim his hard-earned right

to the female in his group.

But at 37 years old, Tuck is

most definitely not interested in sex.

Nearly all females stop

by their mid to late 30s.

Unfortunately,

Rano doesn't know this...

...and keeps trying to impress her

with his displays of strength.

But all this seems to do is make Tuck

more determined to ignore him.

As Rano continues to hound Tuck,

her sons come to her defence.

Now the smallest gorilla

in the group decides

to show the mighty silverback Rano

who's in charge.

This is hardly the great leader

in control.

Pushed around by the youngest male

in the group,

and spurned by Tuck, the only female,

things couldn't get much worse.

Just 40 kilometres away

in the forests of Uganda,

things are stirring for

the eight-year-old female, Twijiki.

She arrived in the group

just two months ago,

and Martha's log shows

that, up until now,

she's been keeping a low profile.

But today she only has eyes for Rukina,

her silverback leader.

The way she's staring at him like that,

that's classic solicitation.

Very subtle, as gorillas are.

She wants to mate.

I'm not sure he does.

Advancing on him,

she tightens her lips

and stares straight into his eyes,

sure signs that she wants to mate.

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