Gorilla Groups in Buhoma Sector

Buhoma sector is one of the four gorilla sectors making up Bwindi Impenetrable National Park the best gorilla trekking destination in the world, Buhoma sector is located in northern part of Bwindi impenetrable national park.

Buhoma Sector is the first sector in Bwindi to be opened for gorilla trekking and this is where gorilla tourism in Bwindi as well as Uganda started from in 1993, this come after Bwindi Impenetrable National Park being established as a national park in 1991.  Buhoma Sector is a special gorilla trekking sector in Bwindi impenetrable national park and Uganda as it has the oldest habituated gorilla family known as Mubare Gorilla family which was also the first family to be visited by the first team of visitors in Bwindi for gorilla trekking.  “Mubare gorilla family at that time had 18 members with Silverback Ruhondeza as the dominant silverback”.  Buhoma Sector has five (5) habituated gorilla families/groups available for gorilla trekking experience.    A total of 40 gorilla permits are issued per day for gorilla trekking.   Mubare Gorilla Family – 6 members  Mubare gorilla family is a family of 6 members with 1 silverback, 3 adult females and 2 infants.  Mubare gorilla family is a special gorilla family in Bwindi impenetrable national park as it is the first gorilla family to be habituated and opened for gorilla trekking in Uganda, the first tourists to do gorilla trekking in Bwindi was on October 13, 1993 and they visited Mubare gorilla group in Buhoma sector. Mubare Gorilla group adopted its name from the gorgeous Mubare hills around Buhoma where the members of the group were first sighted by the researchers.   When the group was availed for gorilla tourism, it was led by silverback Ruhondeza. He had a dramatic tenure which lead him to leave his leadership prematurely to live a solitary life in the nearby human village until he died of old age in June 2012. He left the leadership of Mubare family in the hands of his oldest son Silverback Kanyonyi who is still surviving. In November 2017, a former solitary silverback “Maraya” violently attacked Mubare gorilla family and killed Silverback Kanyonyi taking over the leadership of the group. Kanyonyi sustained injuries from an accidental fall from a high tree which left him too weak to defend his family.  It is noted that most members of the group cannot stand the harsh leadership of Maraya, a couple of the infants have fell victim to his wrath.  “infanticide is a common practice among gorillas especially when unrelated leaders violently takeover group leadership, this is done as they are scared of competition”.  Mubare gorilla family is uniquely known for its single make leadership and a strong male intolerance to intra-male competition.  Silverback Ruhondeza – a group’s historical leader was well known for practicing infanticide to eliminate the would be future competitors until old age which made him weak. In his old age, some mothers evaded his wrath leading to the survival of only two of his sons – Kanyonyi and Muyambi.  Silverback Ruhondeza is buried near the UWA main Building in Buhoma and his grave can be visited after gorilla trekking.  Mubare gorilla group is one of the easiest gorilla groups to trek in Buhoma sector as the group lives closer to Buhoma park’s headquarters where gorilla trekking excursions start from. 

Habinyanja Gorilla Group

Habinyanja gorilla group has 18 members with 1 silverback, 4 adult females, 4 blackbacks, 4 sub – adult females, 3 juveniles and 1 infant under the leadership of a dominant silverback Makara.  Habinyanja gorilla group is the second gorilla to be availed for gorilla trekking in Buhoma sector, Bwindi impenetrable national park in 1999, the name Habinyanja means “near the swamps” in the local Rukinga language and adopted from the swamp ponds in Buhoma where members of the group where first sighted by researchers.  Initially, Habinyanja gorilla family had 30 members under the leadership of powerful Mugurusi, however in 2002 some members split from the group to form their own group called Rushegura. Currently the group has 18 members including 1 Silverback, 4 Blackbacks, 4 Adult females, 4 Sub-adults, 3 Juveniles, and 1 Infant making it one of the biggest gorilla groups in Buhoma sector and Bwindi impenetrable national park as well.  Member of Habinyanja group are known for ranging further and colonizing new areas away from its initial home range areas beyond the Buhoma Sector, the group is also the most odious gorilla group to trek in Bwindi.

Rushegura Gorilla Group

Rushegura gorilla group is a group of 15 members with 1 Silverbacks, 6 Adult females, 3 Blackbacks, 1 Sub-adult female, 3 Juveniles, 1 Infant. Most of the members of this family are from the parent group – Habiyanja family and by that time the group was under the leadership of Silverback Mwirima.  Currently Rushegura gorilla group is under the leadership of a dominant silverback Kabukojo, the name Rushegura of the group is adopted from a tree species called Ebishegura which are abundant in Buhoma area where the formation of the Habinyanja family happened.  Rushegura gorilla family is popular with tourists because it is near the Buhoma sector’s park’s headquarters and its members normally visit the local community gardens and home ranges.  Rushegura is the best group for seniors and less physically enable tourists to trek in Buhoma Sector as well as Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.  

Katwe Gorilla Family

Katwe Gorilla Family is an amazing gorilla family with 8 members including 1 Silverbacks, 2 Adult females, 2 Blackbacks, 3 Sub-adult females, this family is the latest habituated gorilla group in Buhoma sector and is under the leadership of a dominant silverback Mahaane.  The habituation process of Katwe gorilla family start in January 2018 with researchers from Uganda Wildlife Authority monitoring the group following the death of silverback Kanyonyi in November 2017.  The death of Kanyonyi disintegrated the group’s members to unknown locations, when the researchers discovered that some fully habituated members of the Mubara gorilla family for example adult females “Kasundwe” and “Malaika” joined to form Katwe group.  UWA began the habituation process of the group to maintain continuous close monitoring of the habituated individuals and their new mates in the Katwe group.  The name Katwe is adopted from the topo – name of the hill where the habituation process of this group was started in January 2018 by researchers.

Muyambi Gorilla Family 

Muyambi gorilla family is one of the newest gorilla group in Buhoma sector with six (6) members who split from the Mubare family, these members split away with Silverback Muyambi.  Muyambi gorilla family was open gorilla trekking in May 2020. Interact with Mountain gorillas with us, we offer the best gorilla safari packages.