There are several habituated Ruhija gorilla families that tourists can visit after purchase of your gorilla permit. These include:
- Bitukura Gorilla Family: The Bitukura family was habituated in 2007 with 24 members. However, due to fights among the four silverbacks, some gorillas left and moved to other areas. The family was named after a river where they were first seen. Bitukura was one of the easiest families to habituate, taking less than two years. One of the most interesting things about this family is that it is led by the second youngest silverback, which is rare, as leadership usually goes to the oldest.
- Oruzogo Gorilla Family: Oruzogo was opened for tourism in 2011. It is one of the most active and exciting families to visit, known for having many infants and playful young gorillas. The group is led by the silverback Bakwate.
- Kyaguriro Gorilla Family: Kyaguriro was originally kept for research, but it was later opened for trekking. The family was first led by a silverback named Rukina, who sadly died after being struck by lightning in 2015. After his death, Mukiza took over the group. Later, a silverback from the Bitukura family entered the group and began to challenge Mukiza. This caused the group to split into two—one group led by Mukiza (now known as the Mukiza family), and the other led by Rukara, still called Kyaguriro. This is the oldest habituated gorilla family in Ruhija, with habituation starting in 1995.
- Mukiza Gorilla Family: The Mukiza family is the newest group in the Ruhija sector. It was formed after Mukiza split from the Kyaguriro family. After Rukina’s death, Mukiza became the leader of Kyaguriro, but later lost control of the group to a silverback from the Bitukura family. Mukiza then left with some members and started his own family, which he now leads.
The Ruhija sector of Bwindi is located in the eastern part of the park. It is close to the Ishasha sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park, which is known for tree-climbing lions. Ruhija is also near Kabale town in southwestern Uganda.
Ruhija opened for gorilla trekking in 2008. At first, it had two mountain gorilla families available for trekking, and one family was kept for research. Later, the research group was also opened for trekking. One of the original families later split into two groups.
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