January 15, 2025 | Bujo Safaris
What is the best gorilla family in Bwindi? Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Uganda and Africa. Located in the southwestern part of Uganda on the rim of the Rift Valley, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is one of Africa’s most ancient wildlife habitats dating to over 25,000 years ago. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park was first in 1932 divided into two blocks and designated as north and south crown forest reserves.
The northern block was designated as the "Kayonza Crown Forest Reserve", and the southern block was designated as the "Kasatora Crown Forest Reserve" with an area of over 207 square kilometers. These reserves were later enlarged and combined covering an area of 298 square kilometers and in the year 1942 was gazetted as Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Reserve. In 1964 mountain gorillas were spotted in the forest reserve thus the area was designated as an animal sanctuary and was under the joint control of the Ugandan government's game and forest departments. In 1992 Bwindi Impenetrable Forest Reserve was designated as Bwindi Impenetrable National Park stretching for over 331 square kilometers.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is part of the Virunga massif, an area that harbors the remaining population of mountain gorillas. This is the reason why these primates are considered endangered because they are only found in this Virunga massif. This massif or conservation area also engulfs Virunga National Park of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, and also Mgahinga Gorilla National Park of Uganda. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park harbors the endangered mountain gorillas in the four sectors. These sectors include the Buhoma, Nkuringo, Rushaga, and Ruhija gorilla sectors. There are over 459 mountain gorillas in Bwindi totaling over half of the remaining population of these primates in the world. These primates are social beings that stay in groups called gorilla families and Bwindi has over 50 families however 26 of these are habituated and available for trekking.
The 26 habituated gorilla families in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park have their unique characters with some being playful, others very sleepy, and some territorial. Thus visitors can have unique experiences upon visiting these primates however every gorilla family is the best in its unique way. Below are some of the best gorilla families in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
This family is one of the oldest families located in the Buhoma sector and it consists of 7 gorilla individuals with one silverback. The family is known for always having only one silverback who is the head of the family. The Mubare gorilla family was habituated in 1998 in Mubare Hills and started with 12 individuals led by one silverback Ruhondeza but later grew to 18 individuals. This family lost many individuals due to fights with other gorilla families which also led to the death of Ruhondeza. Kanyonyi, a son of Ruhondeza later took over the leadership of the family. In March 2013 the Muhare gorilla family had only 5 individuals but increased to 11 individuals. Kanyonyi unfortunately got severely injured when he fell from a tree which left him very weak and unable to defend the family effectively. It is on this account that he was attacked by Maraya in November of 2017 who brutality killed him and took over the family’s leadership. Some of the members fled in fear to other families and Maraya all the infants in the family to eliminate future competition. Hence reducing the members of the Mubare gorilla family to 7.
This family consists of 6 individuals including 1 silverback and it is located in the Ruhija sector. This was habituated in 1995 and it is the most treasured family group because it is reserved for research. This family was led by Rukina a silverback but unfortunately on 7th April 2015 at the age of 31, he was struck by lightning and died. He was replaced by a younger silverback Mukiza but due to his inexperience, he was banished by a migrating silverback Rukara thus dividing the family with some members going with Ruhara and others remaining with Mukiza.
It comprises 8 individuals including 2 silverbacks, 1 blackback, 3 adult females, and 2 infants. In August 2018, the Katwe gorilla family was opened for regular trekking after habituation of about 3 years. This group was formed when some of the split Muhare family members joined an unhabituated group. The group was later habituated and named the Katwe gorilla family after the hilltop where the habituation process of this family was started.
The Kutu gorilla family is one of the newly habituated gorilla families. It is located in the Rushaga gorilla sector of Bwindi. The Kutu gorilla family is also one of the largest groups consisting of over 20 members. This gorilla family is under the strong leadership of the silverback Ndugu.
The posho gorilla family is among the newly habituated gorilla families in the park. It is located in the Nkuringo gorilla sector in the southern region of the park. The posho gorilla family is led by the silverback Magara. It is named posho which means corn maize because this family loved feeding on corn maize during its habituation. This family has approximately 17 family members.
The Rwigi gorilla family is also newly habituated in the Rushaga sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. It has recently been announced and opened as the new gorilla family for trekking. It has 10 members and was formed after the splitting of the Kahungye gorilla family. It is headed by Rwigi the silverback who was formerly one of the three dominant silverbacks in the Kahungye gorilla family.
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