Beetsme Is Dead

In June 2001, the body of the male mountain gorilla Beetsme was discovered by Karisoke field staff. The former leader of a group of 25 gorillas had been missing from his group for several days. As his body showed no obvious signs of injury or illness, it is presumed that he died of natural causes.
Beetsme was first observed by Dian Fossey in 1975, when he was about 10 years old. He joined an established gorilla group. When Dian Fossey found out that he was a male, she was surprised, because she had never observed a blackback male to join a strange group, and exclaimed "Beats me!" - this was subsequently transformed into "Beetsme".
When he reached maturity, Beetsme became the dominant silverback of his group and fathered a number of offspring. With advancing age, however, he lost his leadership position to a younger male named Titus, who leads the group today. Beetsme had known Titus for many years and the two formed a strong bond. Even after Titus took over, they worked together to help maintain the integrity of the group. At times, Titus was observed confronting intruding silverbacks, while Beetsme remained behind with the females, keeping them together. Today, this group includes several other young silverbacks and juvenile males.

From a press release by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International

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