Gorilla habituated groups

 

 

 

 

Gorilla habituated groups

Gorilla habituated groups : Gorilla Habituation experience was introduced by the Uganda Wildlife authority for visitors to get involved in the gorilla habituation process. The gorilla habituation adventure gives tourists more time up-to 4 hours with a greater chance to get to know more about their closest wild relatives the mountain gorillas. In Uganda gorilla habituation is only done in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and has close to 17 habituated Gorilla Groups that include; Rushegura, Mubare, Bitukura, Habinyanja, Mishaya, Nkuringo, Bweza, Oruzongo, Busingye, Nshongi, Kahungye, Katwe, Christmas, Kyaguriro and Nyakagezi. However out of these only two groups at Nkuringo and Rushaga were set aside as the gorilla families available for habituation and these include Bushaho and Bikingi Gorilla families. Bikingi is located in the Southern sector of Bwindi National Park in Rushaga area and it is led by Bikingi silverback while Bushaho family thrives within the Nkuringo sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

 

Only 4 tourists are allowed to be part of the habituation. The mountain gorilla habituation permit is sold at $1500 per person and can be bought from the Uganda wildlife authority in Kampala or got through a trusted tour operator. The mountain gorilla habituation permits should be booked early enough because there are very few slots for tourists and besides that the mountain gorilla habituation process is a highly desired activity. Tourists going for mountain gorilla habituation are expected to report to the national park headquarters by 7:30 am in the morning for a briefing about the whole process. While here, they are also told about the major safety procedures to follow while in the forest to ensure a successful jungle expedition and to get the best of the mountain gorilla habituation experience. The mountain gorilla habituation rules and regulations are similar to the mountain gorilla trekking rules. After the briefing, tourists are directed to the forest as they follow the mountain gorilla group undergoing habituation. The four hours with the gorillas does not include the time taken to hike up the forested mountains to get to the mountain gorillas which makes the mountain gorilla habituation experience a very enjoyable activity way more than just mountain gorilla tracking where tourists only spend an hour with the mountain gorillas.

MOUNTAIN GORILLA GROUPS

Uganda hosts 17 habituated gorilla families and each gorilla family is appointed 8 gorilla permits every day for visitors. Some of the habituated gorilla families include; Rushegura, Mubare, Bitukura, Habinyanja, Mishaya, Nkuringo, Bweza, Oruzongo, Busingye, Nshongi, Kahungye and Nyakagezi.

Rushegura Gorilla group

This family is located in Buhoma. The family has 19 members with one silverback although the number may change depending on members joining in and out of the group, new born arrival and death. The group separated from its former family Habinyanja in Rushegura place in the year 2002 and the separation was led by Mwirimu who loved staying at a close range with his family members. He later broke away with 7 members including 5 females, other gorillas joined him and they became 12 members. In 2010 he became stable with his family which increased to 19 members.

At the age of 25 Mwirima shows his strength of ruling and even winning fights over other wild gorillas. The family used to cross to the neighboring country (Democratic Republican of Congo) but always came back and settled in their home of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. This group is one of the calmest families and are usually seen wandering around the lodge gardens or visit the souvenir shop of Gorilla Forest Camp as they are very curious as well. They do not shy away from visitors, which gives them a chance to have a close look as they carry out their daily activities.

Habinyanja Gorilla group

This habituated family is trekked in Buhoma sector. Habinyanja gorilla family derives its name from a Rukinga word “Nyanja” which means “a place with water”. The reason for this name is that the group was first seen near swamp ponds in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. The gorilla family was habituated in 1997 and first visited by tourists in 1999. At the time of habituation the group was led by the dominant silverback “Mugurisi” which means “Old man” and after passing away because of old age, the two brothers Rwansigazi and Mwirima shared power. Rwansigazi was supposed to succeed Mugurisi but because at the time of his death Mwirima had equally grown stronger and thus wanted challenge for family leadership. For several years, Rwansigazi and Mwirima shared power after their father’s death but as time went on the two were so different that the group couldn’t continue. Rwansigazi was an adventurous gorilla and liked travelling while Mwirima who liked his dad Mugurisi preferred to stay at a small range. In 2002 the two silverbacks decided to separate without any fights whereby those members that preferred adventure followed Rwansigazi while those who preferred a small range remained with Mwirima. The group that followed Rwansigazi maintained the name Habinyanja and the members who stayed with Mwirima came to be known as the Rushegura family.

Mubare Gorilla group

This family is located in Buhoma and consists of 8 individuals including 1 silverback. This mountain gorilla group was the first habituated within Uganda and was open to tourists in 1993. The group was named after the gorgeous Mubare Hills where it was first seen. The Mubare family had 18 gorillas however because of some of them moving to different groups, life loss during fights as well as the death of a baby in 2009 this number reduced to 5 members. In March 2012, the family was attacked by a wild gorilla group who broke Ruhondeza’s leadership and took away some of the females. Old Ruhondeza took refuge in a nearby community forest but continued to be monitored by researchers, until he died in his sleep on 27 June 2012. In the meantime, Ruhondeza successor Kanyonyi managed to expand the family again and increased it to eight members including a baby named Kashundwe. Gorilla trekking in this group is much adorable due to the increase in number of members and recently the group was filled with joy when they welcomed two babies in the same year 16^th October and 7^th November 2019.

Katwe Gorilla group

This new family is located in Buhoma sector of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and habituation in this group began in 2015 but investigations are still undergoing about the actual number of gorilla members in this family though trekking has already started. The family under went through a habituation process of 3 years which made it familiar to human presence and guarantees travelers of their security in presence of these gentle giants.

Bitukura Gorilla group

This family is located in Ruhija part of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and is the most recent habituated gorilla family. The mountain gorilla family was named after a river that bears the same name and here habituation started in July 2007 whereby the group was opened for tourism in October 2008. It normally takes two years of habituation training but this group was ready for visitors in 15 months. The group originally consisted of 24 members but reduced to 14 members and a newborn arrived recently on the scene. It is a peaceable family with four silverbacks having the second youngest silverback Ndahura as their leader. Despite the other group recruits and loss or several members unlike in some other groups, the Bitukura Gorilla Group gets along with one another.

Oruzogo Gorilla group

This family is found in Ruhija sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and consisted of 23 members including 1 Silverback. The family was opened for tourism on 20^th June 2011 and was led by a dominant Silverback “Tibirikwata”. This is one of the most popular families with tourists because of the playful and energetic juveniles and toddlers in the group. The family experienced a growth in number due to the births whereby this group also received more joy when a set of twins was born in March 2012.

 Kyaguriro Gorilla group

This family is located in Ruhija sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and the group was first habituated in 1997 however the family was not visited by any visitor by then since there was no assurance for the gorilla permits to trek this family. This family started with an aging silverback named Zeus who later on died in exile after being banished by his rival Rukina. In April 2015 Silverback Rukina the leader of the group, was struck to death by lightning and after his death the family sought the leadership of Mukazi, a young silverback who took over power till he got ambushed by a Silverback from the Bitukura Family that caused the break away and separation of the family which led to the birth of the groups; Kyaguriro A, Rukara and Kyaguriro B-Mukazi in 2016. The family apparently has 15 members including 2 Silverbacks. Despite its habituation, Kyaguriro Gorilla Group has not been visited by tourists to this present day because it was put aside for research.

Mishaya Gorilla group

This family is located in Rushaga area in the Southwestern part of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. Mishaya gorilla family was once part of the Nshongi gorilla group but in 2010 Silverback Mishaya decided to form its own new family which consisted of 12 individuals with 1 silverback but figures went on changing due to births, deaths, friends and much more. Silverback was known for his aggressiveness that he fought and was seen in many battles with other Gorilla groups and unhabituated gorilla families as well. His interactions with other Gorilla groups could result into fights that won him females to join and expand his family. In 2011, Mishaya was involved in a heated fight with an unhabituated Gorilla family which left him and a 2 year old infant with injuries all over the body which was reported by the trackers as ‘Severely Injured.’ The injuries were treated by veterinarians from the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project. Unfortunately, Silverback lived only 28 years and on 3^rd Feb 2014 he lost his life. He was found dead by the Park trackers in the morning, he had no injuries, no history of illness and so the cause of his death was unclear.

Bweza Gorilla group

This family is located in Rushaga sector of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and consisted of 7 members including 1 silverback and 2 infants. The group started with the Nshongi family which was the largest Mountain Gorilla family by then to be habituated in Uganda but later split into more groups because of some misunderstandings between its members. The family had many fights in 2013 and so Bweza the Silverback opted to finally break away from the rest of the family. The park rangers thought the family would get back but unfortunately they didn’t and this prompted the group to be opened for tourism in the year 2012.

Busingye Gorilla group

The family is located in Rushaga sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and the group consisted of 9 members. The name Busingye means “peace” and this group separated from Kahungye family. The two separated in the August 2012 due to some misunderstandings.

Nshongi Gorilla group

Nshongi gorilla group is located in Rushaga sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The family consists of 36 individuals and the word Nshongi derives from “Omushongi Gwoboki” meaning “honey” and referred to the deep color of the river. Habituation of this family begun in 2007 and it was officially launched for tourism on 26^th September 2009. In 2010, the group split into two; the Nshongi group with 26 individuals, including 4 silverbacks and newly formed family led by the Silverback Mishaya with 10 individuals.

Kahungye Gorilla group

Kahungye Gorilla Family is found in Rushaga sector of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. The name Kahungye comes from a hill in Rushaga where the family was first spotted and it comprised of 13 members including 3 Silverbacks. However the number keeps on changing due to a number of factors like demise of gorillas, new births, new entrants and much more. The family was opened for tourism in October 2011 but unfortunately they split in less than a year to give birth to a new group called Busingey Gorilla Group.

Nkuringo Gorilla group

This family is found in Nkuringo sector of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park and it was opened up for tourism in 2004. Nkuringo is the Rukiga word meaning a “round hill”. Initially the group consisted of 17 members but went on reducing to up to 12 members. Nkuringo family was the first gorilla group to be habituated in the entire southern sector of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park in 1997. The group was led by an elderly Silverback Nkuringo who died in April 2008 leaving behind two silverbacks; Safari and Rafiki and it was Safari who took over the leadership. This was the first gorilla family to welcome a set of twins from mother Kwitonda; they were named Katungi and Muhozi but unfortunately Katungi died at the age of 1.5 years due to illness.

Christmas Gorilla group

This is one of the new groups located in Nkuringo sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and it is led by a dominant Silverback known as Christmas who is believed to have been born on Christmas day. The family has 9 members including 3 adult females, 3 black backs and two infants but mainly 6 members seen moving around.

Nyakagezi Gorilla group

This is the only family inhabiting the Mgahinga National Park that protects half of the total number of Mountain Gorillas. The group consisted of 10 members with 3 silverbacks and the group was led by the Silverback Mark who led and protected the Nyakagezi Gorilla Group. The group liked travelling and crossing borders between Uganda, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo but later returned and settled at the Mgahinga National Park in 2012 with 10 members but later more news came up in 2013 when the group welcomed a new born baby increasing the number to 11 members.