Cantsbee

Cantsbee was a Mountain Gorilla who was born in Rwanda on the 14th November 1978 and died in Rwanda between February and May 2017. He was one of the oldest male mountain gorillas alive at the time of his death, behind Guhonda and was also the oldest male Mountain Gorilla monitored by the Dian Fossey Fund, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the preservation of endangered mountain gorillas. Cantsbee was also the second oldest mountain gorilla monitored by the Dian Fossey Fund, after Poppy. He was also one of the last two (along with Poppy) to have been monitored by Dian Fossey herself, before her premature death when she was murdered by poachers attempting to prevent further gorilla conservation.

Cantsbee was given his unusual name by Fossey, who believed his mother to be a male gorilla so exclaimed “It can’t be” when she witnessed her give birth to Cantsbee. Cantsbee was also known to have been the alpha male of his troop for the longest of any gorilla and was alpha male until his disappearance in October 2016.

Cantsbee Disappeared on the 10th October 2016 and extensive searches were undertaken as it was believed he may have been left behind, due to his age, however the searches were unsuccessful and Cantsbee was believed to have died. The staff of the Fossey Fund expressed their wish for Cantsbee to be found and described him as one of the most notable gorillas, due to his unusually old age of 38 and his 21 year reign as the leader of his troop. Cantsbee had taken over his troop, known as Pablo’s troop, from late silverback Pablo in 1995. After Cantsbee’s disappearances and later death, Gicurasi, his son, took leadership of the troop.

In his lifetime, Cantsbee sired over 30 offspring and was described by the Fossey Fund as an “active and responsible father”. Fossey Fund President & CEO/Chief Scientific Officer Tara Stoinski, Ph.D. explained Cantsbee’s commitment to the infant gorillas in his troop by relating the experience of a research assistant, “One day, Cantsbee was being uncharacteristically aggressive and grunting at every infant gorilla who approached him. After the infants had avoided him and move away, he finally got up and left. The assistant was able to see he was sitting next to a snare, and her impression was that he was protecting the infants from it.”

The Fossey Fund pledged to continue to search for Cantsbee and to monitor the remaining gorillas in Pablo’s troop as they believed Cantsbee’s absence may create instability in the troop and the forming of sub-troops. They expressed hope for Cantsbee’s son, Gicurasi as new leader and wished for him to keep the troop together, but they questioned if he would be able to meet the “legendary charisma” of his father.

Many staff of the Fossey Fund praised Cantsbee as one of the strongest leaders they had ever seen and praised his 20 year leadership of the largest gorilla troop ever seen, one researcher said, “I think of Cantsbee as the most powerful and confident of all the silverback leaders,” says Veronica Vecellio, the Fossey Fund’s gorilla program manager in Rwanda, at the Karisoke Research Center. “I have bright memories of his group resting together, gathered around Cantsbee or following him by forming long lines, among the most surreal moments that I have experienced in the wild.

All of the Fossey Fund trackers and staff remember Cantsbee as a peaceful and gentle, yet strong, intelligent and respected leader. Karisoke tracker Francois Xavier Ndungutse Believed Cantsbee to be a unifier and pacifier and feared for the future of the troop, once they realised that Cantsbee was deceased. The last large-scale search for Cantsbee was undertaken on the 3rd November 2016 and as he was not found, he was presumed dead.

In January 2017, a gorilla who was believed to a new silverback joined Pablo’s troop, however the Fossey Fund researchers discovered the returning gorilla to be Cantsbee. Despite his prolonged absence, he was accepted back into the troop as the alpha male and demonstrated his strength by smashing vegetation. He then led the female and infant gorillas deeper into the forest as Gicurasi and the other males confronted an invading silverback from outside the troop. It’s hard to believe and to explain what has happened,” says Veronica Vecellio, Fossey Fund gorilla programme manager in Rwanda. “We don’t know why Cantsbee left the group, where he went, whether he’s back to stay, and how he will work things out with Gicurasi’ dominance.

The Fossey Fund were unsure why Cantsbee had disappeared for several months and where he had been as such behaviour had not been seen by researchers before and used his disappearance as an example of the surprising nature of gorillas. In February 2017, Cantsbee was gain disappeared for his troop and special searches were undertaken to find him, however these were unsuccessful and the last search was undertaken on the 14th March 2017. The Fossey Fund however, confirmed they would continue to undertake patrols regularly so Cantsbee would still have a chance to be found, they also expressed a wish for him to be found but they admitted they would not be surprised if he was not found due to his old age.

On the 12th May 2017, Fossey Fund researchers on their daily patrol discovered a partially decomposed gorilla body in a river, which they arranged to be removed. A necropsy was performed by Gorilla Doctors in conjunction with Fossey Fund scientists and associated researchers. Due to the advanced decomposition of the body, identification was not simple, although it was clearly the size and shape of a big silverback. However, a photo was taken of Cantsbee’s teeth earlier in 2017 so Gorilla Doctors were able to compare the teeth from the body with the picture of Cantsbee’s teeth.

Dr Jordi Galbany explained methods for determining the identity of a gorilla from their teeth, “Incisor teeth, which were clearly visible in the photo, present characteristic patterns of wear, chipping or periodontal disease, all of these were a perfect match between the photo of Cantsbee’s teeth that we had and the teeth in the carcass.” It was also possible to estimate the age of the teeth, which matched up with Cantsbee’s age. Due to the identification of his teeth and the location of the body matching Cantsbee’s last location, Fossey Fund researchers concluded that the body was of Cantsbee, however they also confirmed that genetic analysis would take place for final verification. At the time of his death, Cantsbee was 38 years old and was one of the oldest living male mountain gorillas, after Guhonda and the oldest male mountain gorilla monitored by the Fossey Fund.