Gorilla tracking rules and regulations are guidelines designed to help visitors go about the gorilla trekking exercise without endangering both the gorillas and themselves as well protecting the gorilla habitat. These guidelines are the same in all the 3 gorilla trekking destinations, Uganda, Rwanda and DR Congo.
Brief facts about mountain gorillas
- Mountain gorillas are highly endangered, only just over 1,000 are left in the world, of which 360 are found in the Virunga Mountains.
- A male African mountain gorilla acquires his silver back at about 11-13 years of age.
- The dominant silverback, usually the strongest male, mates with the females once the females are about 10 years old.
- Mountain gorillas have been found to live as high as 3,500mtrs in the mountains.
- Mountain gorillas live in families of about 8-15, although a group as large as 30 gorillas was once recorded.
- The females in the group can come from different families; therefore not all the gorillas are related.
Gorilla Tracking Rules in Uganda, Rwanda and DR Congo
To protect the gorillas and tourists the rules below must be followed:
- You are not allowed to track gorillas if you have a communicable disease, eg. diarrhoea, flu, etc.
- You don’t have to surround the gorillas but remain in a tight group
- Leave a distance of not less than 5 metres between you and the gorillas
- Flash photography is strictly forbidden
- You are not allowed to eat or smoke within 200 metres of the gorillas
- If you can not avoid sneezing or coughing, turn away from the gorillas and cover your nose and mouth
- Bury all your human faeces in a hole dug at least 30cm (1ft) deep and ensure that it is properly covered afterwards
- Do not spit on vegetation or soil while in the park
- No person under 15 years is allowed to track gorillas
- Do not make a loud noise or sudden movements in the presence of gorillas
- All litre must be removed from the park for disposal
- Please adhere to all instructions from your guide.
Habituated gorilla groups in Bwindi and their sectors
Buhoma sector
Buhoma sector has 6 gorilla families of which 3 were first habituated in 1993 and are still available for tracking. They include Mubare with 12 members, Rushegura 19 and Habinyanja 17. In time more three groups were added including Katwe, Muyambi of 6 and Binyindo.
The Buhoma sector lies at 1,160 meters – the lowest altitude of Bwindi. Trekking in Buhoma tends to be easier due to the nature of terrain. Additionally, the sector contains 2 spectacular waterfalls which are accessible on nature trails. Buhoma is also known for having some of the Albertine Rift Endemics (AREs) species including Chanpin’s flycatcher, short-tailed warbler, red faced woodland warbler, Kivu ground thrush, purple breasted sunbird, and stripe breasted tit.
Mubare
Being among the oldest 3 groups of Bwindi, Mubare is known for being the easiest gorilla family to track. Reason being that the family of 12 members including a silverback is well accustomed to humans and its home range is not far from the gorilla center. The gorillas are oftentimes found feeding along the main trail, on a lucky day, visitors might not need to hike too far. Sometimes, the group tends to come closer whilst feeding to some of the lodges on the edge of the forest such as Mahogany Springs, Sanctuary Forest Gorilla Camp and Buhoma lodge.
Habinyanja
Also known as group H, Habinyanja is Bwindi’s 4th largest gorilla group by composition. The family has 17 members led by a mature silverback, making it ideal for those intending to see many gorillas gathered together. The trail heads to the group’s home range are far from the center and requires taking a short drive first. This means that tracking can be challenging due to the nature of terrain and visitors expect not to return soon.
Rushegura
Rushegura is one of the 3 families to be habituated first in 1993 and has 19 families, making it one of the largest groups in Bwindi. It was named after Kishegura, one of the best UWA ranger guides who discovered the group and also created trails to track it. The group feeds on the slopes of the hill not far from the visitor center, making it easier to track. This is not always the case as the group’s home range is rather large, spanning from the lower slopes above Munyanga river to Mubare hill.
Muyambi
The newest family in Buhoma, Muyambi has 6 members including a silverback. This group was opened for tourism in 2020, thus ideal for those intending to see fresh gorillas that have just passed the habituation process.
Katwe
Katwe group with 11 members is also among the newly habituated in Bwindi. The exact number of its family members keeps on fluctuating, but rangers have observed some of them, including one dominant silverback, adult females, and infants.
Binyindo
The habituation of Binyindo was completed in 2021, and the family has 6 individuals. Unlike other groups, Binyindo’s home range is above the Ivi River trail on the border with Sarambwe Nature Reserve in DR Congo.
Ruhija sector
There are 4 gorilla groups in the Ruhija sector, which include Bitukura, Kyaguriro, Oruzogo and Mukiiza, which is under research. The sector lies south east of Bwindi impenetrable forest, 53 km (2-hour drive) from Kabale municipality and 41 km (1-hour 54 min drive) from Buhoma, making it easy to combine both sectors for those intending to do double gorilla tracking. Tracking in Ruhija can be challenging given that it lies at the highest altitude of Bwindi 2,607 meters. However, due to a smaller number of accommodation facilities, the sector is secluded and ideal for those seeking to have an off-the beaten gorilla trekking experience.
Bitukura
Bitukura group has 11 members led by a silverback and was the first to be opened for tourism in the Ruhija sector in 2008. For over 10 years, Bitukura is well accustomed to humans. It was named after Bitukura river and the steep valley slopes can be challenging to navigate. However, the home range is closer to the gorilla center, sometimes the gorillas are found along the main road that leads to Queen Elizabeth national park.
Kyaguriro
Kyaguriro has 15 members making it one of the largest gorilla families by composition. Its habituation began in 1999 and the group was kept under research for several years. It was later opened for tourism, according to UWA there are two silverbacks in this family including Rukina the current leader, who ousted an aging silverback known as Zeus. Given that there must be one leader, the rangers are keeping a close eye to see who is going to keep leading the family. It has also been observed that some of the adult females came from the Kyaguriro family as the two groups are neighbors.
Mukiiza
The Mukiiza group split from the Kyaguliro group forming their own in 2016. The family has 15 members including 1 Silverback, 7 Adult females, 1 Sub-adult, and 1 juvenile and 5 infants of which 2 were born in 2021. UWA in partnership with the Manx Planc Institute (MPI) are observing these groups for research purposes. The aim is to study the ecology as well as the physical character and social relations between the gorillas, which might help to understand why it broke away from its parental family. So far, findings indicate the group tends to forage most of the time in the inner parts of the forest.
Oruzogo
Oruzogo at the time of habituation in 2008 had 17 members, which split and only 10 remain today including 1 silverback, 4 black backs, 2 adult females, 1 juvenile and 1 sub-adult and 1 infant. The name Oruzogo refers to a local plant called Alchornea hitela on which the gorillas feed on mostly. According to UWA, this plant isn’t common among the plants that gorillas feed on, yet this family makes it its primary food.
Nkuringo sector
The Nkuringo sector lies south of Bwindi on the Ndego ridge, about 1 km from Kisoro town council and 76 km from Kabaale municipality. Tracking in Nkuringo is ideal for travelers coming from Rwanda via the Cyanika border town. The word Nkuringo in local Rukiga dialect means “round hill”, the sector lies on Ndego ridge (2,000 meters), which offers views over the Virunga volcanoes and Albertine rift valley, making Nkuringo the most spectacular Bwindi gorilla sector. There are 4 gorilla groups in Nkuringo of which 1 of them called Posho is designated for habituation experience while the other 3 are open for tracking.
Posho
Posho is one of the 2 Bwindi gorilla groups designated for habituation experience, in which visitors spend 4 hours with the primates. The group has 9 members including silverback, which is known for chest thumping when visitors approach.
Nkuringo group
Nkuringo has 12 members including a young silverback Rwamutwe (bullhead) which took over leadership in 2020 after the death of Rafiki killed by poachers. At 25 years old, Rafiki was the oldest silverback recorded in south Bwindi impenetrable forest. The group was the first to be habituated in the Nkuringo sector and it had 20 members at the time. After getting used to human presence, the gorillas developed a habit of marauding in the local community farms. UWA created a buffer zone by relocating people, which addressed the challenge of human-gorilla conflicts.
Bushasho
The Bushaho group has 10 members including the dominant Bahati the silverback. The home range area known as Bushaho is between Rushaga and Nkuringo sectors. The family therefore tends to forage in a large area, where it has interacted with the Nkuringo group in 2012. In fact, Bahati the silverback and some other gorillas left Nkuringo and joined Bushaho. UWA rangers also noticed that there were wild non-habituated gorillas too. Some follow-up exercises were done to ensure that the group is stable for visiting, which has been successful. Among the 10 members, there’s a powerful black back, which might rival Bahati for leadership in future. Visiting the Bushaho group is interesting to see how the two rivals keep distance while feeding. Other gorillas include 3 adults and 2 sub adult females and 3 infants.
Christmas
Chritsmas group has 9 members of which most came from Nkuringo including a wild adult female with a baby. Thus, UWA didn’t spend much time habituating them which eased the work for tracking.
Rushaga sector
Rushaga gorilla center is situated in the southern part of Bwindi, 36.9 km (1-hour 26 min drive) from Kisoro airstrip. The sector can also be reached by those traveling from Rwanda. Rushaga has 8 gorilla groups and the largest number of accommodations of which some are perched on the shores of Lake Mutanda and Lake Mulehe, 21.7 km away from the gorilla center. In addition to gorillas, there are several other activities you may do including canoeing, boat riding, forest walks.
Bikingi
Bikingi is the second group undergoing the habituation in Bwindi therefore open for the habituation experience. There are 11 members including a silverback Bikingi, which was killed by an intruding wild silverback in 2018, which took over leadership. The incident caused 9 gorillas to leave and join other groups; 5 adult females later reunited together. The females have been giving birth over the years bringing the total to 11 individuals including 2 silverbacks, 4 infants and 1 juvenile. The habituation process of Bikingi began in 2012 when UWA rangers noticed that both habituated (from Mishaya group) and wild gorillas had joined together. For that reason, the exercise of habituation has been prolonged to keep a close eye on them.
Kahungye
Kahungye is the largest gorilla family in Bwindi impenetrable forest with 25 individuals led by one silverback Ruziika. Seeing such a large number of gorillas gathered together is impressive for keen photographers. UWA began habituating Kahungye in 2008 with roughly 29 individuals of which 3 were adult silverbacks including Riziika, Busingye, and Rwiigi. These have frequently competed against each other with the Silverback Ruziika emerging as the leader. Over the years, the group has expanded with 7 adult and subadult females giving birth to 2 blackbacks, 2 juveniles, and 6 infants.
Nshongi
Formerly the largest gorilla family in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park, Nshongi had 36 members which later split into Bweza and Mishaya groups due to rivalry among members. Only seven individuals were left which have since increased to 11 including a silverback, black back, 2 juveniles, 5 adult females and 2 infants. The group was named after the Shongi river area, home to several primate species such as black and white colobus monkeys, L’hoest monkeys and olive baboons. Those visiting the Nshongi gorilla group have an advantage to encounter other wildlife in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest national park.
Bweza
The Bweza group separated from the Nshongi in 2010 and was 2 years later recognized and opened for tracking. This made its habituation easier given that most of the gorillas were already fully accustomed to human presence. The group consists of 15 members led by Kakono the silverback, who prefers to forage on the edge of the forest and sometimes moves into the host communities adjacent to Rushaga. Fortunately, the locals are eager to assist in monitoring the primates through the Human-gorilla organization, which empowers locals in conservation.
Mishaya
The Mishaya gorilla group also split from the Nshongi in 2010. It was identified in 2014 with 12 members of which 4 left after the death of the silverback. Currently, Mishaya has 8 individuals including a silverback known as Tinfayo meaning careless in English, 5 adult females, 1 infant and 1 juvenile. UWA discovered that among them were wild gorillas, therefore conducting a thorough process of re-habituating it.
Kutu
One of the biggest gorilla groups in Uganda, Kutu has 20 members and is led by Kutu Silverback. The group consists of 7 Infants, 1 Sub-Adult, 2 Juveniles, 1 Blackback, and 8 Adult Females, which are the recently to be habituated in the Rushaga sector.
Busingye
Busingye meaning peace is one of the 8 gorilla groups in Rushaga sector. It has 9 members including silverback, 3 adult females, 1 black back, 2 juveniles and 3 infants, which tend to forage in the innermost parts of the forest. For that reason, Busingye is considered to be difficult to track in the Rushaga sector.
Habituated Gorilla groups in Rwanda
Susa family
The family derives its name from Susa river along which the gorilla family was first spotted by Dian Fossey which make it the favorite of most people on Rwanda gorilla safaris. Susa family was known to be the largest gorilla family in the entire volcanoes national park with 42 members and would sometimes move to the higher altitudes which make its trekking quite difficult. However, the family later split to form karismbi family, which reduced the number of members to 28 gorilla members.
Karisimbi family (Susa B)
As already said, this gorilla family split from Susa A and became independent. At present, the family has 15 members some of which were former members of Susa A while others joined from other family members. The gorilla family lives on the slopes of mount karisimbi, which make it quite difficult to trek.
Amahoro family
This is the most peaceful family in volcanoes national park led by Ubumwe a dominant silverback. Amahoro is translated in kirwanrwanda as peaceful and the family has surely proved to be peaceful despite compared o other families. Amahoro families comprise of 17 members and live beneath karisimbi volcano.
Sabyinyo family
This family was nabbed after mount Sabyinyo, which is a Kinyarwanda word, which mean old man’s teeth. Sabyinyo comprise of 9 members with 2 silver backs and is one of the most accessible gorilla families in the volcanoes national park. Trekkers who are less fit are therefore reminded to opt for sabyinyo family which does note require much of hiking.
Hirwa family
The gorilla family formed after some members split from Sabyinyo and Agashya families to form one Hirwa family. The family comprise of 9 members which include a dominant silver back, 2 juveniles, 3 young ones and 3 female adult gorillas.
Kwitonda family
This family formerly inhabited the tropical rain forest of the Democratic republic of Congo after which it migrated to Rwanda and settled in volcanoes national park. Kwitonda, which means “humble one”, is the head of a family with 18 members, 1 other silverback and the black back. The past movements of kwitonda family to the DRC made its trekking difficult but has presently settled in Rwanda and available for trekking.
Agashya family
The family was formerly headed by Nyakarima who was over thrown by Agashya a dominant silverback who currently heads the family. At the time of its habituation, Agashya family comprised of comprised of 13 members but has presently expanded to 25 individuals with the leadership of Agashya.
Umubano family
Led by Charles the dominant silverback, Umubano gorilla family was formerly part of the Amahoro family, which broke up when Charles disagreed with Ubumwe the dominant silver back of Amahoro family. Charles decided to start his independent family and went with other families’ members from Amahoro group. At present, Umubano has a total of 9 members with 1 silverback.
Bwenge family
This familycomprises of 11 members and is led by Bwenge a dominant silverback. In 2007, Bwenge broke from his former family and was later joined by other members. The family faced hard times in the start when it lost 6 infants at the once which was a great draw back.
Ugenda family
The family derived its name from Kinyarwanda word, which means a “move” due to its continuous movements from one place to another. The family now consists of 11 members with 2 silverbacks and roars in the slopes of mount karisimbi.
Conclusively therefore, be part of gorilla trekking in the volcanoes national park and enjoy a life changing experience with human’s close relatives.
What to pack for Gorilla trekking in Africa
- Rain gear and hat
- Insect repellent
- Binoculars
- Camera
- Solid walking boots
- Sunscreen
- Drinks and snacks
Porters are available at a small cost.
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