Uganda is one of the countries in the world where you can trek mountain gorillas from; gorilla trekking in Uganda can be done at the famous Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga National Park, which are found on the Virunga Range volcanoes.
Uganda has 18 habituated mountain gorilla families in Bwindi, and each family can be visited by up to 8 tourists per day.
They are distributed within the four sectors of Bwindi National Park: Ruhija sector, Rushaga sector, Buhoma sector, and Nkuringo sector.
Mgahinga Gorilla National Park has only 1 habituated gorilla family at the moment.
The popular Ugandan mountain gorilla families can be seen below:
Nshongi Gorilla Family
The Nshongi gorilla family is located in the Rushaga sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
The family derives its name from the Nshongi River where the family was first sighted by rangers.
Nshongi gorilla family had 35 members at the time of habituation, but later the number reduced to 25 members when Mishaya broke off with 10 members to form his own family.
The group split again with Bweza breaking off to form his own family, and now the dominating silverback is Nshongi.
Rushegura Gorilla Family
The Rushegura gorilla family is dominated by Kabukojo silverback.
The group was formed after breaking off from the Habinyanja gorilla family when the dominating silverback Mugurusi died.
This group is easy to trek in Bwindi, as it’s sometimes seen around the park headquarters, Batwa villages, and Buhoma camp.
Nkuringo Gorilla Family
Nkuringo gorilla family is found in Nkuringo sector of Bwindi National Park.
The family was first dominated by the silverback Nkuringo but was taken over by his son Safari when he died.
This is one of the gorilla families blessed with a pair of twins in Bwindi.
Habinyanja Gorilla Family
The Habinyanja gorilla family is one of the oldest mountain gorilla families in Bwindi National Park.
The family was habituated in 1997 and opened up for tourism in 1999. It derives its name from the area where they were first spotted, dominated by the silverback Mugurisi, meaning old man.
Mwirima, the son of Mugurusi, broke off to form his own family now called Rushegura family.
Mubare Gorilla Family
Mubare gorilla family is the oldest habituated mountain gorilla family in Uganda.
The family was first habituated in 1991 and was opened up for tourism in 1993.
This family can be trekked from the Buhoma region of Bwindi National Park.
They derived their name from Mubare hills where the group was first sighted by rangers.
Oruzogo Gorilla Family
Oruzogo gorilla family was opened up for tourism on the 20th of June 2011.
This family can be trekked in Ruhija region of Bwindi and is dominated by Tibirikwata, the silverback.
The family is currently composed of 23 individuals.
This family was gifted with twins in 2012 when the female Kabobe gave birth to twins.
Bitukura Gorilla Family
Bitukura gorilla family is found in Ruhija sector of Bwindi National Park.
The most interesting thing about this group is that it’s dominated by a young silverback Ndahura, which is uncommon among gorilla families as the oldest is always the one dominating the group.
Mishaya Gorilla Family
Mishaya gorilla family was formed when Mishaya, the dominating silverback, broke away from the Nshongi family with some females to form his own group.
Mishaya is known for fighting other groups in order to expand his own.
Busingye Gorilla Family
Busingye gorilla family was formed when Busingye broke away from Kahungye gorilla family to start his own family.
This group was opened up for tourism in 2011 and is found in Rushaga sector of Bwindi National Park.
The name of the group means “peace” in the local language.
Kahungye Gorilla Family
The Kahungye gorilla family was opened up for tourism in 2011 and can be trekked in Rushaga sector of Bwindi National Park.
The name of the group was derived from Kahungye hills where they were first sighted.
The group had 27 members before Kahungye broke away to form his own family, and they are now led by the silverback Gwigi.
Nyakagezi Gorilla Family
Nyakagezi gorilla family is the only gorilla family found in Mgahinga National Park.
The group was dominated by Bujingo at habituation but is now dominated by Mark, helped by Mafia, and is composed of 10 members.
