BBC Mountain Gorilla Page #2

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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.

But Rukina's group contains plenty

of females for him to choose from,

and he doesn't appear

especially interested.

Finally, Rukina relents.

Yep, yep, yep, there you go.

Twijiki's entered a period called oestrus,

a monthly occurrence for gorillas,

and the only time they can get pregnant.

And usually they'll mate

about once an hour.

There we go.

For the next few days,

Twijiki's sole aim will be to mate.

They are very active

in soliciting the males.

So, yeah, it is almost like they're...

It's a different gorilla

from one day to the next,

depending on

if they're in oestrus or not.

Possessed by her hormones,

she turns once more to the silverback,

but he's not interested.

Twijiki will have to look elsewhere.

She decides to try her luck

with the more junior gorillas,

the blackbacks.

Twijiki might not know any better,

but the blackback is only too aware

that if he gets caught,

there'll be trouble.

The dominant silverback holds priority,

and won't put up with

this sort of behaviour.

Despite Rukina's efforts to break up

the young couple's embrace,

sneaky mating does happen.

Genetic tests have revealed

that about 15% of infants are not

fathered by the dominant silverback.

It was a mating like this, between

Ponoka's mother and a blackback,

that Martha saw

before the young Ponoka was born.

Discovering who fathered little Ponoka

is important

if Martha is to understand

the secret world of gorillas.

The only way she can solve this mystery

is with a paternity test.

Oh, yeah, ha-ha!

That would be Ponoka.

Yeah. So, the size of the dung

corresponds to the size of the gorilla.

So we've been looking for some time now

to get the faeces from Ponoka

- and today we succeeded.

- Yeah.

Tiny, tiny, tiny.

Martha will send this sample

to a laboratory,

where Ponoka's genetic profile

will be compared

to that of the silverback, Rukina.

- Do you have the pen?

- Yeah.

OK, great.

In Congo, Magda is getting ready to meet

the two orphaned mountain gorillas,

and check that they are healthy enough

to be moved to their new home.

Ndeze and Ndakazi's stories

began in 2007...

...when six mountain gorillas were killed

in execution-style attacks,

most likely linked

to the illegal charcoal trade.

Two-month-old Ndakazi was found

clinging to the dead body of his mother,

who had been shot

through the back of the head.

Around the same time,

three-month-old Ndeze was discovered

next to his dead mother.

Altogether, five gorillas from his family

had been killed,

including the once mighty silverback

Senkwekwe,

whose body was ceremoniously

carried off the mountain.

These atrocities shocked the world,

but the real struggle was

keeping the two young orphans alive.

It's all right.

They survived, but because of

their contact with humans,

they are unlikely to go back

into the wild.

However, soon they will be moved

from this cramped back garden

to a purpose-built sanctuary,

close to the forest

that should be their natural home.

Good...

Oh, don't be shy!

Come, come.

To prepare for the move, the orphans

are being introduced to the car

that will eventually transport them.

Good.

Give me your hand.

Good.

That's good.

It's very important

that they know what's happening.

We don't try to sneak on them

and do things by surprise.

Magda is happy

that the orphans are healthy.

But before she leaves Congo,

there is a family of gorillas

that she needs to check up on,

one closely connected to the orphans.

In Rwanda, the old female, Tuck,

has so far chosen

to stay with silverback Rano and his

small, disgruntled band of gorillas.

As their leader,

one of Rano's responsibilities

is to keep the group safe.

But now he is taking them

out of the National Park

and onto the farmland

that surrounds it.

Rano is desperate

to gain the group's respect.

Leading the gorillas out of the park

to find a tasty treat

could be a way of winning them over.

But it's not without risk.

Nestling beneath the volcanoes

is the bustling town of Ruhengeri.

Its ever-expanding population

needs feeding,

which means the last few hundred

mountain gorillas on Earth

face stiff competition for resources.

Potatoes are the main crop grown here,

but the gorillas ignore these

and go in search of a different delicacy.

Eucalyptus. These fast-growing trees

are planted by locals

to be used for building materials.

This sort of damage does bring

the gorillas into conflict with humans.

But this is not the only concern

for those looking after them.

By coming onto the farmland,

the gorillas are exposed

to human diseases.

Gorillas have little immunity

to our illnesses.

Even a simple cough or cold

could kill them.

Much work is being done to make people

aware of the risks and benefits

of having mountain gorillas

living alongside them.

And where better to start

than with the next generation?

At this school,

the Art of Conservation team

are teaching Rwandan children

all about gorillas.

So, approximately how many

mountain gorillas are alive today?

About 700 up to 800.

Just as important

as learning about mountain gorillas

is the fact that the gorillas

are helping to give something back

to the local community.

Money from gorilla tourism is used

to build the very schools

in which the children have their lessons.

The future of the mountain gorilla

is in the hands of the people

that share this land.

If both can benefit

from this relationship,

the gorilla's future will be more secure.

At Martha's forest home in Uganda,

the results of Ponoka's paternity test

have arrived.

So I just checked my e-mail

and the subject heading is,

"The paternity of Ponoka is solved."

So I'm very curious to see,

because he's nearly one year old.

Yeah. "So if there's no other options,

"the case for Rukina as father

is quite strong. Congrats."

So yeah, Rukina's the dad.

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