Gorilla Family Safaris In Bwindi National Park | Gorilla Trekking

Gorilla Families in Bwindi National Park.

Gorilla Family Safaris in Bwindi National Park, Uganda, is the only country in Africa which harbours the highest number of the endangered mountain gorillas, which are found in Bwindi National Park and Mgahinga National Park, which are located in southwestern Uganda.

Bwindi National Park is located in southwestern Uganda and is home to half of the world’s endangered mountain gorillas, which are found in the four sectors, including the Rushaga sector, the Ruhija sector, the Nkuringo sector and the Buhoma sector. Rushaga sector, located in the southern part of Bwindi National Park, is one of the sectors that houses 8 gorilla families and is the only sector in Bwindi National Park with the highest number of habituated gorilla families; they include

Nshongi family: this family was habituated in 2006, and at the time of habituation, it was the largest family with 36 members and led by the Nshongi silverback. The Nshongi group derives its name from a river where the rangers first sighted the group. The family now consists of 7 members after one of the silverbacks, Nshongi, split with 10 members to form his own family.
Mishaya’s family: this group split from Nshongi, whereby Mishaya, the silverback, left with 10 members to form his own family. Mishaya died in 2014 at the age of 28 years and was known for fighting other groups to grab more females for his group, which made him stronger. The Mishaya family is now led by Mwine Silverback and consists of 12 members.
Kahungye family: this group was open for gorilla trekking in 2011, and after habituation, it comprised 27 members with the Rumansizi silverback as the leader, followed by Gwigi. Later on, Busingye, the silverback, split off with some members to form his own group. The Kahungye group derives its name from the hills in the Rushaga sector where it was first sighted, and now it consists of 17 members and is dominated by the Ruhamuka silverback.
The Busingye family split off from the Kahungye family in 2012 and is named after the dominating silverback Busingye, who is popularly known for fighting fellow gorillas so as to take more members to his group. ‘Busingye‘ is a local word which means ‘peace’; hence, that’s where it derived its name. The family is comprised of 9 members, with one silverback, Busingye, as the leader of the group.
The Bweza family: This gorilla group also split from the Nshongi family due to increased rivalry in 2012; the Bweza family is comprised of 12 members and is dominated by the Kakono silverback.
The Bikyingi family: the group derives its name from a dominant silverback, Bikyingi, and the group consists of 15 members.
The Rwigi family is a newly habituated gorilla family in the Rushaga sector that split off from the Kahungye family. It consists of 6 members, including 3 adult females, 2 juveniles, one baby and one silverback, Rwigi, who leads the family.
The Mucunguzi family, the group, was named after the dominant silverback Mucunguzi, and the word means ‘saviour’. It was split from the Bweza family after a fight, and Mucunguzi was the third and youngest silverback in the Bweza family. The Mucunguzi family comprises 8 members.

The Rushaga sector has the highest number of gorilla families, which means more gorilla permits are available on a daily basis for visitors who want to trek gorillas in the Rushaga sector.

The Buhoma sector is situated in the northern part of Bwindi National Park in Kanungu District and is one of the most visited gorilla sectors due to easy accessibility and connectivity to other sectors like Nkuringo and destinations like Queen Elizabeth National Park. The Buhoma sector is home to four habituated gorilla families, which include:

The Mubare family was the first gorilla family to be habituated in 1993 and is the oldest family in Bwindi National Park. The Mubare group is easy to track as compared to other groups, consists of 9 members and is led by an alpha silverback, Kanyonyi.
The Rushegura family; this group split from the Habinyanga family and was open for trekking in 2000. The group lives near the park headquarters; hence, it can be easily trekked by visitors who don’t like long hikes. The Rushegura family is comprised of 21 members and is known as a calm, peaceful and welcoming family in the Buhoma sector.
The Habinyanja family: this family was habituated in 1997 and opened for trekking in 1999. It derives its name from Nyanja, a swamp where it was first discovered. The group was first led by Mugurusi, who later died, followed by his two sons, Mwirima and Rwansigazi, who later separated in 2002. The Habinyanja family is now dominated by the Makara silverback and consists of 17 members.
The Katwe family is a new habituated family in the Buhoma sector to increase the number of gorillas with trekking habits in Bwindi National Park. Katwe members keep moving in and out of the group; hence, the exact number of individuals is not well known, but currently it comprises 10 members.

Buhoma on a Uganda safari offers 32 gorilla trekking permits daily to visitors due to the 4 habituated gorilla families found in the sector; the permits are available for visitors who want to trek gorillas in the Buhoma sector and should be booked in advance because they are competitive, and Buhoma is the most visited sector in Bwindi National Park.

Ruhija sector is situated in the eastern part of Bwindi National Park and is inhabited by four habituated gorilla families available for gorilla trekking daily, including

Oruzogo family: this group was open for trekking in 2011 and has the largest number of gorillas in the Ruhija sector. It derives its name from the plant species near its home range where it was first sighted. The group consists of 17 members and is dominated by the Tibirikwata silverback. The family had twins in 2013 by a Kankonda female, and it’s famous for its joyful and playful family members who entertain the visitors.
The Bitukura family: the group was habituated in 2007 and opened for trekking in 2008, hence habituated for one and a half years compared to other families, which are habituated for two years. It derives its name from the river where it was first sighted and comprises 14 members with 4 silverbacks and is dominated by one of the second youngest silverbacks, Ndahura. The Bitukura family is the most peaceful group in Bwindi National Park for trekking.
The Kyaguriro group was established in 1999 but was reserved for research. It was first led by the silverback Rukina, who was later struck by lightning in 2015. The Rushaga group was then dominated by an immature silverback, Mukiza, in 2016. The group was later split into two after a fight, with Kyaguriro A, which is led by Rukara, an immature silverback from Bitukura, and is composed of 10 members.
Kyaguriro B, which is also known as Mukiza, is dominated by the Mukiza silverback. Kyaguriro B was split from Kyaguriro A and consists of 10 members, including 4 adult females, one subadult female, and 4 infants, and is led by the Mukiza silverback.

The Ruhija sector is home to 4 habituated gorilla families; hence, there are 32 available gorilla trekking permits for visitors who want to trek gorillas in the Ruhija sector.

The Nkuringo sector is situated in the southern region of Bwindi National Park, north of Kisoro town and is home to three habituated gorilla families, namely:

The Nkuringo family was the first group to be habituated in the Nkuringo sector in 1997 and opened for trekking in 2014, and the name ‘Nkuringo‘ means ‘hills‘, where it was first sighted. The group is neighboured by the Nshongi family in the Rushaga sector and is one of the interesting gorilla families in Bwindi National Park. The Nkuringo family is comprised of 12 members and is led by Rafiki silverback; the name is a Swahili word which means friend.
The Bushaho family was the first gorilla family to give birth to twins in the Nkuringo sector and is known for foraging outside the national park most of the time. The Bushaho family got some of its members from the Nkuringo family and is now comprised of 8 members, with Bahati the silverback as the leader of the family.
Christmas family, this was the third family to be habituated in the Nkuringo sector and is the newest family for gorilla trekking in the Nkuringo sector of Bwindi National Park. The group is dominated by Christmas, a silverback who was born on Christmas Day. The Christmas family is comprised of 9 members, but only 6 are seen during gorilla trekking.

The Nkuringo sector harbours 3 habituated gorilla families; hence, it has 24 available gorilla trekking permits for visitors to trek the gorillas on a daily basis.

Rushaga is the only sector in Bwindi National Park where the gorilla habituation process takes place. Gorilla habituation is the process whereby the mountain gorillas are trained to get used to the human presence for Uganda gorilla trekking. There is one gorilla family in Rushaga known as the Kutu family, which is going through a habituation process which takes place for 2 years and allows a maximum of 4 visitors to engage in the habituation process.