GORILLA FAMILIES IN RWANDA 2014 – RWANDA SAFARI NEWS


gorilla groupsRwanda is gifted to be among the three countries that possess mountain gorillas in the whole world. Rwanda alongside Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo contain the 880 mountain gorillas that are currently thriving in the wild of Virunga massif shared among the three and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. This has formed a stronghold for gorilla safaris in Rwanda and the adjacent countries of Uganda and Congo. In Virunga massif where the Rwanda’s Volcanoes National park is a component, there dwells 480 mountain gorillas. Volcanoes National Park found in the north west of Rwanda has 10 habituated gorilla families that have attracted various travellers to undertake gorilla trekking in Rwanda.
The gorillas in Rwanda are split into two categories including research groups and trekking groups. The research groups include Pablo’s Shida and Beetsme with enormous members. The gorilla trekking groups include;
The Susa A group which is  difficult to trek is named after the Susa River that runs through their dwelling place. It has 28 gorilla members with 3 silverbacks. Being a challenging group to trek, the conservation trackers make sure that they know where it has slept the previous day to tracking. The twins of Byishimo an Impano makes this group thrilling to trek during Rwanda safari visit. It also contains poppy, born in 1976 and is one of the first gorillas to be habituated by Dain Fossey.
Karisimbi Family (Susa-B). This split from the Susa A and has 15 members. It dwells in the Mount Karisimbi slopes thus its trek involves active hiking.
Sabyinyo Gorilla Group. This is led by the powerful Guhonda as the silverback and is the largest silverback in all gorilla families in Rwanda. It has 8 individuals with 1 silverback. The main rival Ryango has been driven to solitary life.
Amahoro Gorilla Group. This has 17 members with 1 silverback. As the name suggests, the Amahoro group is very peaceful which has made the silverback – Ubumwe to lose members to Charles of Umubano gorilla family.
Umubano Group. This has 11 members with 1 Silverback. It broke off from Amahoro after the disagreement between the silverbacks Ubumwe and Charles the current leader of Umubano.
Group13 (Agashya Group). At the time of habituation, the gorilla family had 13 members which formed its name. Agashya is known for taking his family members up the volcano in case of danger. He has increased the group members to 25.
Kwitonda Family. This gorilla family has 18 members and the name literally translates to the humble one. It has 2 silverbacks and it is known for having migrated from the Democratic Republic of Congo which makes it to stretch to far distances posing an extended trek.
Hirwa Group. The Hirwa gorilla family arose from the merging of members from the groups of Sabyinyo and Group 13. This gorilla family has 9 individuals with 1 silverback.
Bwenge Family. This has 11 members with 1 silverback. It dwells on the slopes of Karisimbi Mountain and is led by Bwenge who formed the group in 2007. With two successful births, the group is growing stronger recovering from the loss of its 6 infants. Its trek is a bit strenuous hiking up to 600m.
Ugenda Family. This has 11 gorillas with 2 silverbacks and is known for its constant movements. Thus, its trekking while on gorilla safari in Rwanda could be challenging too.

Rwanda safaris /Rwanda safari News
Prime Uganda Safaris & Tours ltd

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WHERE CAN YOU FIND & SEE GORILLAS IN UGANDA AFRICA?

Image
Uganda has only two national parks where one can see gorillas i.e Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park and this is where g orilla trekking in Uganda is done to search and find  the rear endangered Mountain Gorillas . With about 1063 mountain gorillas that still exist on earth today, Uganda is home to more than half of all these endangered Great Apes making it one of the only 3 countries in the world where mountain gorillas live and Uganda gorilla tours are only done in there two national parks. Uganda has 20 gorilla families that have been habituated and already set for tourism purposes , 19 of which are tracked/found in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and only 1 is found in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is one  of the places where you can see Gorillas in Uganda Africa. The appropriately named Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (also called “The Place of Darkness”) is the world’s premier ...
Read more

Mountain Gorilla Behavior,Diet,Threats and Predators

http://www.primeugandasafaris.com/gorilla-safaris/5-days-uganda-gorilla-safari.html Behavior  Although strong and powerful, gorillas are generally gentle,shy ,retiring rather than ferocious and treacherous . They live in groups of 2-40 individuals, averaging about 11. Groups are led by a dominant male, the Silverback, named for the silvery gray hairs that grow when the male matures. The Silverback serves as the chief leader and protector of the group, to whom all group members defer. He decides when and where to go, rest and sleep, arbitrates disputes among his family members and protects them from rival Silverbacks or human predators. Gorillas usually seeks no trouble but will valiantly defend its family group if threatened. An adult male called a silverback named for the silvery gray hairs on its back normally leads each group, serving as its chief protector and defender. Gorillas ...
Read more