Mountain gorillas are beautiful
relative to their lowland relatives, by a substantial margin. They have strong features, yet their long black hair softens their bony brows, pointy crests, and pointed jaws. In comparison to their almost identical long-haired eastern Congo relatives, the Grauer’s gorillas, their cheeks and foreheads are flatter. Finally, there are the eyes, those dark brown mirrors in which we sometimes get a glimpse of our own reflection. And lastly, there’s the air of poise and respect that radiates from them.
Among the mountain gorillas we saw, quince stood out as the most stunning because to her exquisite proportions, glossy black hair, and brilliant eyes. At almost eight years of age, she was a girl coming of age. She is still up for playing with Ziz, tuck, or Puck, but she might end up marrying either Beethoven or Icarus soon. I think it’s more probable that she’ll go and live with another family. It seems as if she lived her life to the fullest in late 1978, when all the options were open to a gorilla of that era.
Still, Quince started to ease down in October. At the time, the very cold and rainy weather had made several of the gorillas unwell with coughs that pointed to bronchial difficulties. Conversely, Quince did not exhibit any symptoms of a runny nose or cough. A propensity to remain at rest for little longer was the only symptom at initially.
She started to droop her head as she walked and stopped more often after that. All of the other gorillas adjusted their gait to match. Daily distances traveled decreased significantly when rest intervals increased in both frequency and length. Despite being just above the bamboo zone, the food supplies in the lower saddle seemed to be more than enough to sustain a lengthy stay. Nevertheless, Quince’s hunger also diminished.
She became noticeably unwell in only one week. Whenever she wasn’t sleeping, she would spend half of each day peering down at a succession of ill-constructed day nests. There was no guidance or assistance accessible to Dian. Quince was bedridden by the time the second week came to a close. Her formerly brilliant eyes were now dull and uninterested, a result of unimaginable suffering.
Even though Quince had piqued their curiosity, the other gorillas continued to follow shorter feeding loops that led them to unspoiled food patches before returning to her. They build new nests every night, usually not more than a hundred yards from where they were the night before. In contrast to her companions, Quince was only able to conjure up enough energy to conceal a few of disconnected branches under her, rather than build strong bowls insulated from the cold, wet forest floor.
In the wee hours of October 20, Amy discovered Quince in just such a nest, maybe trying to numb the agony by resting on her stomach with her face buried in her arms. Amy drew forward to touch her, but she remained still, and the last of her warmth was dwindling.
The remaining gorillas had apparently seen her demise and had already dispersed. Quickly, Amy went back to camp to inform Dian, and then she and the Rwandan camp staff would return to Group 5 to remove Quince’s corpse. She was laid to rest beneath Dian’s cabin with Digit and an ever-expanding list of others after certain tissue samples were taken for further study. The possible tests were never reported to us, and the reason of death is still unknown.
Even more so for Amy, who had stood by helplessly as the apparently endless process came to a close, the death of another gorilla was difficult to comprehend. However, in a gorilla’s environment, surrounded by her own species, humans were to blame for every aspect of Mweza’s pain and the gorillas’ demise. At the time, it was quite unusual for the Virunga region.
On the day after Quince’s passing, Group 5 embarked on a lengthy journey northward around the park’s perimeter. They did a full U-turn and raced in a straight path toward Quince’s last known location before Amy caught up with them the next morning. Army accelerated and caught up to them along their flank, and the reward was a breathtaking sight.
