 However, internal power struggles following the death of King Rumanyika I in 1881 destabilized the kingdom and, with the 1890s rinderpest epizootic killing upwards of 90% of Karagwe's cattle population, the kingdom went into a decline from which it was never able to fully recover.It was around this time the Germans entered the region, whose interests were peaked due to news reports from Speke, Grant, and Stanley's travels.Rather than establish a colonial government, the Germans chose to have a privately sponsored colonialist company, the Society for German Colonization.