Mountain Gorilla Families of Uganda
The Habituated Gorilla Groups
Mountain Gorilla Families of Uganda : In the whole world, there are approximately 1006 mountain gorillas according to Uganda wildlife Authority in 2018, these gorillas are found in 2 populations, one population in Bwindi impenetrable national park which is the largest population and half of the world’s population. The other population is found in the Virunga conservation Area which comprises of Mgahinga Gorilla national park of Uganda, Volcanoes national park of Rwanda and Virunga national park of Democratic republic of Congo.
Bwindi impenetrable national park
Bwindi impenetrable national park a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a home to the world’s largest population of Mountain gorillas hosts 14 habituated gorilla families, with 12 gorilla families open for gorilla trekking, each of these families or group was put under a habituation experience for about 2-3 years and each is lead by a dominant silverback.
In Bwindi impenetrable national park, a total of 8 gorilla permits are issued for each gorilla group on a daily basis, acquiring a gorilla permit is the only way a tourist gets a chance to visit the amazing gentle giants in their natural habitat on mountain gorilla trekking activity.
Bwindi impenetrable national park is divided into 4 sectors that are Buhoma sector, Rushaga sector, Ruhija sector and Nkuringo sector where gorilla families or groups are found.
Rushaga Sector
Rushaga sector or region of Bwindi impenetrable national park is a habitant for 5 gorilla families that are Nsshongi group, Kahungye group, Bweza group, Busingye group and Mishaya group.
Nshongi Gorilla family
Nshongi gorilla family has 26 gorilla members including 4 silverbacks, at the time this gorilla family was opened for tourism in September 2009. This gorilla group had a total of 36 individuals which made it to be the biggest habituated gorilla groups in Uganda, it comprised of 3 silverbacks, 7 blackbacks that lived in harmony with no attempts of leadership.
The group then split in July of 2010 into two with a group lead by silverback Mishaya leaving and the remaining group comprising of 26 members including 4 silverbacks under the leadership of dominant silverback Nshongi.
Nshongi gorilla family gets its name from River Nshongi where the members of this group were first sighted.
Mishaya Gorilla family
Mishaya Gorilla family is a group of 12 members with 1 silverback, this group split for Nshongi gorilla family in 2010 under the leadership of silverback Mishaya known for his fighting character.
Mishaya is known for starting fights with other gorilla families as a way of protecting his own gorilla group and stealing females from other families, unfortunately in April 2011 he encountered a wild gorilla family which was not yet habituated and he sustained wounds together with one of the infants in his group. Fortunately they got treatment from the conservation doctors from the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project veterinaries and recovered well.
Kahungye Gorilla family
Kahungye Gorilla family is a group of 13 members with 3 silverbacks under the leadership of dominant silverback Gwingi meaning door in the local dialect, the other notable members in this group are Ruhanuka and Rwigi who are old males.
Kahungye gorilla family was opened for tourism in 2011 and at that time it comprised of 27 individuals under the leadership of silverback Rumansi, however a year later some members split off to form the Busingye gorilla family.
Bweza Gorilla family
Bweza Gorilla family is a split family from Kahungye gorilla family opened for gorilla trekking in 2012, this group comprises of 9 individuals with one silverback Bweza who is also the leader of the group. The members of Bweza gorilla group were once members of the biggest gorilla group in Bwindi- Nshongi, however silver Mishaya separated from the group in 2010 and Bweza later left Mishaya in 2012 with 6 members to form the Bweza gorilla family.
Busingye Gorilla Family
Busingye Gorilla Family is a group of 9 members with one dominant silverback Busingye who is the leader, this group was opened for tourism in 2013 after splitting away from the Kahungye gorilla family to form his own family.
On contrary to his name “Busingye” meaning peace, silverback Busingye loves fighting and on several occasions has fought off wild gorilla groups that have attacked him and grabbed females from his group to add to their own gorilla family.
Buhoma Sector
Buhoma sector is a home to 3 gorilla families that are Mubare Gorilla family, Habinyanja Gorilla family and the Rushegura gorilla family.
Mubare Gorilla family
Mubare Gorilla family is family of 9 members with 1 silverback, Mubare gorilla family was opened for tourism in 1993 making it the oldest habituated mountain gorilla family in Bwindi impenetrable national park and Uganda as well.
Members of the Mubare Gorilla family were first seen on Mubare Hill in the depth of the jungle of Bwindi and it is from this hill that it gets its name, according to the trackers who first visited the group. Mubare group had 18 members with Ruhondeza as the dominant silverback, later some members left the group to join other groups and other died as a result of violet fights that happened at the time. Also, this family suffered a death of one of their baby gorillas and in 2012 the group was left with only 5 members.
In March of 2012, the leadership of Silverback Ruhondeza was challenged when a wild gorilla attacked the group and left with a couple of females. At this time the defeated Ruhondeza had grown weaker and old and fled to the neighboring community forest for refugee, the researchers of Bwindi continued to monitor him until his passed away on the 27th June 2020 (he died in his sleep). At the time of his death, he was said to be over 50 years and was buried close to the park’s headquarters offices and his gravestone can be seen today.
Silverback Ruhondeza was gentle mannered and a lazy leader in character which was depicted by his name which means “sleepy fellow”.
Habinyanja Gorilla family
Habinyanja Gorilla family is a group of 17 members with 2 silverbacks under the leadership of dominant silverback Makara, the habituation process this gorilla family started in 1997 and it was opened for gorilla trekking in 1999.
The members of Habinyanja Gorilla family were first sighted closed to a swamp in the jungles of Bwindi and it is from this swamp that its gets name “Habinyanja” derived from Nyanja a local word in the Rukiga language meaning “a place of water”. By the time this group was discovered, it was under the leadership of silverback Mugurisi a local word meaning “Old Man”
Mugurusi unfortunately died due to old age and the leadership of the group was taken over by his two brothers Mwirima and Rwansigazi, the joint leadership of this group did not last due to their indifferences which led to brothers partying ways in a very peaceful way with no fights involved. Rwansigazi was adventurous in nature and he loved moving a lot while Mwirima preferred covering a small range in his movements, the members that stayed with Silverback Mwirima formed the Rushegura family while the members that left with Rwansigazi remained as Habinyanja.
Today Habinyanja gorilla family is under the leadership of silverback Makara who succeeded Rwansigazi.
Rushegura gorilla family
Rushegura gorilla group is a big group of 19 individuals with one silverback, this group split from Habinyanja family in 2002, this group gets its name from the place “Rushegura”.
At the time of separation from Habinyanja, this group was led by dominant silverback Mwirima who left with 12 members including 5 females, by 2010 the size of the group had increased to 19 members. Throughout his reign, silverback Mwirima has devoted himself to protecting his family and fought several attach from wild gorilla groups.
Previously, this gorilla group would cross to Democratic republic of Congo, however it has settled and permanently live in Bwindi impenetrable national park.
Nkuringo Sector
Nkuringo Sector of Bwindi impenetrable national park is more physically challenging but very rewarding sectors of the park to do gorilla trekking, the sector hosts one habituated gorilla group by the names of Nkuringo Gorilla Family.
Nkuringo Gorilla group
Nkuringo gorilla family is a group of 19 members with 2 silverback under the leadership of silverback Safari.
Nkuringo gorilla group gets its name from a local Rukiga language “Nkuringo” meaning a round hill where it was first sighted, this gorilla family has a tendency of moving to the lower slopes of the nearby villages which has created conflicts with the locals as they would eat farm produce such as sweet potatoes, banana among other crops.
At the time of habituation, this gorilla family was under the leadership of silverback Nkuringo who was old and weary at that time. Unfortunately he passed away in April of 2008, silverbacks Rafiki and Safari remained in the family and the leadership was taken over by Silverback Safari – a son to Nkuringo.
Nkuringo Gorilla group is one of the fortunately groups in Bwindi impenetrable national park to have twins Muhozi and Katungi, given birth to by Female Kwitionda.
Ruhija sector
Ruhija sector of Bwindi impenetrable national park is a habitat for 2 gorilla families that are Bitukura Gorilla group and Oruzogo gorilla family.
Bitukura gorilla family
Bitukura gorilla family is a family of 14 members with 4 silverbacks, this gorilla family was first seen close to River Bitukura after which it was named within the Ruhija sector, the sector was opened for tourist in October 2008 after the habituation process which started in July of 2007. Unlike other gorilla families in Bwindi impenetrable national park, this family’s habituation process took only 15 months to be fully habituated contrary to 2 years. This is believed to have been caused by the closeness of the group between the Bitukura family and Kyaguriro family.
Previous this gorilla family comprised of 24 members, however they reduced to 14 member as a result of other members joining other families, currently the group has 4 silverbacks under the leadership of dominant silverback Ndahura who is the youngest silverback, he took over leadership from silverback Karamuzi who gave up power after nearly 4o years of leadership.
Oruzogo gorilla family
Oruzogo gorilla family is a group of 25 members with 2 silverbacks under the leadership of silverback Tibirikwata, this gorilla family was opened for tourism in 2011. Over the years, members of this group grew as a result to births from female adults such as Ntamurungi, Musi and Kakoba who gave birth to twins.
Kyaguriro Gorilla family
Kyaguriro Gorilla family is a group of 15 members with 2 silverbacks, the habituation process of this family is not yet complete and it is not yet open for tourism.
This family is still closely monitored by the conservationists and studying it, previous this family was under the leadership of silverback Zeus however his rule was attacked by a contender gorilla Rukina who forced Zeus into exile where he eventually died from.
Mgahinga gorilla national park
Mgahinga gorilla national park has only one habituated gorilla family in the names of Nyakagezi gorilla family.
Nyakagezi gorilla family
Nyakagezi gorilla family is a family of 10 individuals with 3 silverbacks under the leadership of silverback Mark, this gorilla family is known for moving a lot and frequently would cross borders between Uganda, D.R.Congo and Rwanda. However from November 2012, the group has remained within the Uganda border in Mgahinga Gorilla national park.
