Bwindi impenetrable forest national park is home to the largest number of habituates gorillas in the world as well as half population of mountain gorillaswith the other half found in Volcanoes national park.
The Rushegura mountain gorilla family can be trekked from Buhoma sector of Bwindi impenetrable forest national park, the Rushegura mountain gorilla family is dominated by Kabukojo the silverback who broke away from Habinyanja gorilla family to start up his own gorilla family.
There was an attempt of another silverback known as Kabukojo who flee away from the group to form his own gorilla family but later returned with 10 females he had taken and rejoined the group. Rushegura mountain gorilla family was a splinter of Habinyanja gorilla family.
Other gorilla families in Buhoma
Mubare gorilla family
The famous Mubare gorilla family is the oldest habituated gorilla family in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park, it was opened up for tourism in 1993 and derives its name from Mubare hills in Bwindi where the family was first spotted by trackers.
The family had 18 individuals at the time of habituation but the number reduced to 5 individuals just like other gorilla families where separation is inevitable, Ruhondeza who dominated the group at the time of habituation died in sleep in 2012 and the silverback Kanyonyi took over the leadership and has since expanded it to 8 members.
Habinyanja gorilla family
Habinyanja mountain gorilla family is also among the first habituated gorilla families in Bwindi, the family habituation started in 1997 and was visited by tourists in 1999. The gorilla family derives its name form a local word “Nyanja” translated to mean water because the group was first seen near a swamp in Bwindi.
Gorilla permits
Uganda mountain gorilla permits cost $600 per person per trek and gorilla habituation permits cost $1500 per person. To trek Rushegura family, one needs to book a permit in advance of 3-6 months before coming to the country because Buhoma is one of the favourite sector of Bwindi national park hence permits are always on high demand.
The best time to visit
Bwindi impenetrable forest national park is an all year destination but some months are better than the rest that is from June to September and December to February, during this dry months its easy to get to the park and the trekking trails are also not slippery and muddy.
Mwririma and Rwansigazi couldn’t get along because one loved to be adventurous while the other wanted to confined to be in one area this led to the silverbacks breaking away peacefully with Mwirima taking with him 12 members of the family to start his own.
The Rushegura mountain gorilla family was habituated in 2000 and opened up for tourism in 2002. This group is now composed of 16 individuals of 1 silverback, 4 black backs, 4 adult females, four infants and 3 juveniles. Rushegura gorilla family derives its name from Rushegura area in Bwindi where the group separated from Habinyanja gorilla family.
