Uganda Gorilla Trekking Families are fully habituated and open to tourism. Uganda is a leading primate safari destination and the best country to see the rare mountain gorillas. Mountain gorillas live in the forested mountains of Bwindi and the Virunga massif. The Virunga massif is a stretch of Volcanic mountain ranges along the Uganda, Rwanda, and DRC border.
The current mountain gorilla population is estimated at over 1000 individual mountain gorillas with Bwindi having the highest population of 450. With this, the park is the best gorilla trekking destination given the high numbers of even the habituated families.
Gorilla Trekking Families Bwindi
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest has different sectors each with gorilla trekking families. They include Rushaga with 7 habituated families, Buhoma with 6, Ruhija with 4, and Nkuringo with 4.
The Uganda gorilla trekking families in Rushaga include the following.
Busingye
The Busingye gorilla family comprises 9 members. These include one silverback (adult male), 3 adult females, one blackback, 2 juveniles, and 3 baby gorillas. Busingye means Peace and such a name is often given to depict the character of the lead gorillas.
Bweza Gorilla Family
The Bweza gorilla family has 15 gorillas in total. They are led by Kakono, a male and dominant silverback. Bweza was initially part of the Nshongi gorilla family but separated in 2010. It is one of the best families to track given the high number of gorillas in the family.
Bikingi
Bikingi has 11 gorillas including two adult males. This particular gorilla family is still undergoing habituation. It is open for tourism but an experiential gorilla habituation experience. With that, only Four individuals are allowed to visit this gorilla family a day. The habituation experience is more exclusive and takes you behind the scenes following the daily routine of gorillas.
Kahungye Gorilla Family
Kahungye has the highest mountain gorillas in the whole of Bwindi. They are 25 in total led by Ruziika, a dominant silverback. It has a combination of females, infants, juveniles, and blackbacks. Trekking to such a large gorilla family gives you more chances for family moments and interactions you might not experience in any other family.
Kutu
The Kutu gorilla trekking family is also large with 20 gorillas. These are led by Kutu, the dominant silverback, and are among the most recently habituated gorilla families in Bwindi.
Mishaya
Mishaya comprises 8 gorillas that are led by a dominant silverback called Tinfayo. Others include 4 adult females plus one juvenile and infant gorilla.
Nshongi
The Nshongi gorilla family has 11 gorillas including an adult male (Silverback). It has adult females, infants, and juvenile gorillas. It was initially the largest Uganda gorilla trekking family with 36 individuals. These separated with time amidst the need for independence to form other gorilla families.
Buhoma Gorilla Trekking Families
Buhoma is the oldest and busiest Uganda gorilla trekking sector. It has the country’s first habituated gorilla family Mubare having habituated in 1993. Below is a brief about these families.
Binyindo Family
Binyindo comprises 6 individual gorillas. It is one of the longest gorilla families to trek to given its territory range. It lives near the Uganda, DRC border next to the Sarambwe Forest Reserve.
Habinyanja
The Habinyanja gorilla family comprises 17 gorillas led by an adult alpha male. It is among the largest families in the park and ideal to trek to for those interested in seeing many gorillas.
Katwe Gorilla Family
Katwe is among the recently habituated gorilla families in Bwindi. It comprises 11 members also led by a dominant male Silverback. Other members include infants and adult female gorillas.
Mubare family
Mubare is the oldest gorilla family with 12 individuals. It is the most stable gorilla family given its habituation age and therefore among the best you can trek to.
Muyambi Family
The Muyambi family is also among the recently habituated gorilla families in Bwindi. It has 6 gorillas and is among the intimate gorilla families you can visit.
Rushegura
Rushegura has 19 gorillas and is among the oldest gorilla families in Bwindi. It is easy to get to and enjoyable to visit given its family size.
Ruhija Sector Families
Bitukura
The Bitukura family has 11 gorillas led by a dominant silverback. It is an amazing family to trek to as you see other wildlife species in the park including birds.
Kyaguriro Gorilla Family
Kyaguriro is the oldest family in Ruhija with 15 gorillas. It comprises two adult silverbacks with Rukina as the family leader. Given its high gorilla numbers, it is an incredible family to trek to.
Mukiiza
The Mukiiza family also has 15 gorillas including one silverback, black back, adult females, and infants. It is ideal to visit when interested in seeing infants as it has some of the youngest gorillas.
Oruzogo
Oruzogo has 10 gorillas that are naturally led by an adult male silverback. It is peaceful to trek to and enables you to explore the park given its territory range.
Nkuringo Sector Gorilla Families
Nkuringo is also located in southern Bwindi. It is about a 45-minute drive from Rushaga and now a whole sector on its own. Below are the gorilla families there. It is however the most difficult sector to trek because of the steep mountain slopes.
Bushaho
Bushaho comprises 10 gorillas led by a dominant male called Bahati. It is a large territory area and sometimes closely interacts with the Nkuringo gorilla family.
Christmas Family
The Christmas Family has 9 gorillas and was initially part of the Nkuringo family. It is intimate and enjoyable to trek to just like many other families.
Posho
The Posho family also comprises 9 gorilla individuals. Its main silverback often thumps its chest to show dominance and claim over the territory.
Nkuringo
This has 12 gorillas led by Rwamutwe. It was initially led by Rafiki who was unfortunately killed by poachers. Nkuringo is the oldest family in the sector and therefore offers great experiences.
Gorilla Families in Mgahinga
Mgahinga Gorilla Park is the Virunga Massif’s extension to Uganda. It is located in the Kisoro district and completely separate from the Bwindi ecosystem. It has only one gorilla family called Nyakagezi with 9 gorillas including four silverbacks.
Visit Uganda on gorilla trekking Discovery Journeys featuring any of the above-mentioned Uganda gorilla trekking families. You can also join our other safari adventures to Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Eastern DRC.
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