Uganda Habituated Gorilla Families

Uganda Habituated Gorilla Families: wild or habituated mountain gorillas just like humans live in the groups/families, also like people or humans each gorilla family is led by a dominant male also known as a silver-back whose job is to protect and take care of the well-being of the whole family. Currently, Uganda has 20 habituated gorilla families and more are under the habituation process, 19 groups are located in Bwindi Impenetrable forest national par and one in Mgahinga gorilla national park, both parks are located in southwestern Uganda near the border of Rwanda and DR-Congo. Gorilla trekking in both parks is done daily throughout the year. The Bwindi forest has 4 gorilla trekking sectors as we are going to see in this article as we get to each of Uganda’s habituated gorilla families

1. Nkuringo gorilla trekking sector?

• Nkuringo gorilla family, this grout it was the first to habituated in Nkuringo Sector, currently Nkuringo gorilla group is one of biggest gorilla family in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park, it has 18 individual members with 2 Silver-backs, trekking this group gives the opportunity to get good photos and videos.
• Bushaho gorilla family, this gorilla group is one of the newly habituated families which was opened for tourism in December 2019, Bushaho gorilla family is also located in the Nkuringo sector and it has 8 individuals members with 1 silverback,
• Christmas gorilla family, is also one of the newly habituated gorilla families in the Nkuringo sector that opens in December 2019, this group has 9 members with 1 silver-back, the reason why this family is called Christmas it is because of the dominant male (silver-back was born on Christmas day few yes back.

2. Rushaga gorilla trekking sector?

• Nshongi Gorilla Family, this group was one the first to be habituated in the Rushaga area, Nshongi gorilla family has 25 individual members with 2 silver-backs.  Nshongi gorilla family was named after the river close to where it used to live when it was still under the habituation process. Nshongi is the biggest gorilla group in the Rushaga sector which makes it very popular many people want to trek it because of its size.
• Mishaya gorilla family, Mishaya has 12 members in the family with 1 Silverback. Originally Mishaya group came from the Nshongi family in July 2010
• Bweza gorilla family, this family has 9 individual members with 1 silver-back; Bweza group is known as one of the families that is an easy trek in the Rushaga sector.
• Kahungye gorilla family, Kahungye has 13 individual members with 3 silver-backs, Kahungye gorilla family is one of the newly habituated gorilla families in the Rushaga sector of Bwindi impenetrable forest national park. Kahungye family was opened for tourism in late 2011.
• Busingye gorilla family is one of the new groups because it split from the Kahungye family in 2012, Busingye family has 9 individuals members with 1 dominant silverback whose name is Busingye, in the local language Busingye means ‘peace’ which means this silverback (Businggye) like peace not fighting with other gorilla groups in Bwindi forest
• Bikyingi gorilla family has 21 individuals, this group was formed by some gorilla individuals from Mishaya who meet with some wild (unhabituated gorillas) and came tougher and formed a family led by this silverback called Bikyingi.
• Rwigi gorilla family is another newly habituated gorilla group in the Rushaga area, Rwigi family has only 6 individuals with silverback called Rwigi, this family also spilled from the Kahungye family.
• Mucunguzi gorilla family was the biggest gorilla family/group in the Bwindi forest with 88 individuals but it has spilt into a few groups including the Bweza family.

3. Ruhija gorilla trekking sector?

• Bitukura family is one of the most interesting newly habituated gorilla families in the Ruhija area, it has 14 indusial with 4 silver-backs which is not the usual thing to have 4 silver-back in one family.
• Oruzogo gorilla family, Oruzogo has 16 individuals with one silver-back, Oruzogo family is found in between the Buhoma sector and Ruhija so tourists can trek it from either way. Oruzogo has 12 members in the family
• Kyaguliro gorilla family, this family is one of the biggest groups in the Ruhija sector; the Kyaguliro gorilla group has 15 individuals with 2 silver-backs. Kayaguliro family is very popular in most international newsrooms because the park authority had allocated it to researchers.

4. Buhoma gorilla trekking sector?

• Mubare gorilla family, was one first to be habituated in the Buhoma sector but it is the smallest gorilla family in Buhoma, it has 6 individuals with 1 Silverback, this group is called Mubare because this gorilla group was first seen on the hill called Mubare. This family is also one the easiest to trek because it is located near Buhoma park headquarters.
• Habinyanja gorilla family: It is one the biggest gorilla group in the Buhoma sector with 20 individuals and 2 silverbacks, the name Habinyanja means an area with water where it was first seen.
• Rushegura gorilla family, this group has 20 individuals with one silverback, Rushegura group was part of the Habinanja family, after some years the 2 silverbacks couldn’t live tougher so it had to split into 2 families in 2002
• Katwe gorilla family: this is a newly habituated gorilla group in the Buhoma sector, it was opened in 2018 for tourism, Katwe family has 9 members with one dominant silver-back.
• Nyakagezi gorilla family: This group is not part of the Bwindi impenetrable forest national park. The Nyakagezi gorilla group is located in Mgahinga gorilla national park, Nyakagezi is the only gorilla family in Mgahinga gorilla national park, Nyakagezi has 9 individuals with 3 Silver-backs.

For more information about Uganda habituated gorilla families contact Kisoro tours Uganda for other details and current data on mountain habituated gorilla families in Uganda because the information keeps changing as new families come on the board.

You can reach us at info@kisorotoursuganda.com or call us at +256785790925 also on WhatsApp for free information or for a free quote