Congo is one of the three countries in the world where mountain gorillas live. The famous Virunga National Park is home to these apes, which share 95% of their DNA with humans. It is the most popular place for gorilla trekking in Congo.
Congo has eight habituated gorilla families. They are described below:
- Bageni Gorilla Group: The Bageni gorilla family lives in the Bukima and Gatovu sections of Virunga National Park. It is the largest mountain gorilla family in Virunga, with 26 members. This group split from the Kabirizi gorilla family. Bageni, the dominant silverback, left the Kabirizi family to start his own group.
- Nyakamwe Gorilla Family: The Nyakamwe gorilla family was formed in 2014 when the silverback Nyakamwe left his family, led by Humba, to start his own group. The family has 11 members and can be trekked in the Bukima area of Virunga National Park.
- Munyaga Gorilla Family: The Munyaga gorilla family has only 7 members and is led by Gasore. Although it is small, many visitors like to trek this group because it has a set of twins from a female named Bilali. The family is named after its former leader Munyaga. After him, Mazawo led the group, and now Gasore is the silverback.
- Lulengo Gorilla Family: The Lulengo family can be trekked in the Jomba area of the park near the Uganda-Congo border. It has 9 members and is led by the silverback Lulengo. This family was once called the Musekura gorilla family, but the name changed to honor a park director who died on a land mine.
- Mapuwa Gorilla Family: The Mapuwa family is also in the Jomba area, near the Uganda-Congo border. It was once led by the silverback Mapuwa, but now Mvuyekure is in charge. This group has 22 members.
- Rugendo Gorilla Family: The Rugendo family is one of the oldest habituated groups in Virunga National Park. It was named after the silverback Rugendo, who led the group at the time of habituation. Now the group is led by Bukima. Rugendo led 18 members until his son Humba left with 10 members to start his own family. Rugendo died during clashes between the Congolese army and Rwandan rebels.
- Humba Gorilla Family: The Humba family was formed in 1998 when Humba fought with his father, Rugendo, and took 10 members to start a new group. Later, Nyakamwe left Humba’s group to start his own family. Humba’s family can be trekked in the Gatovu and Bikengi sectors of the park.
- Kabirizi Gorilla Family: The Kabirizi family can be trekked from the Bukima section near Goma. The group is named after Kabirizi, an ICCN director who died in a traffic accident. This family was once led by the silverback Ndugutse, and the group was also called Ndugutse before changing its name to Kabirizi. Ndugutse was shot in 1997 after being caught in crossfire between Rwandan rebels and the Congo government. After his death, Kabirizi, a wild lone gorilla, took over the group.
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