The Mishaya gorilla group is one of the 21 habituated gorilla families in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. Mishaya is a gorilla family found in the Rushaga gorilla sector located in the southwestern part of the park, this group is led by a male silverback called Mishaya which split from the Nshongi gorilla family then the largest gorilla family in Bwindi.
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is the second smallest national park after Mgahinga Gorilla National Park and these are the only national parks where you can trek gorillas in Uganda. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park was established in 1991 and is famous for hosting over 220 butterfly species, 350 bird species, and over 400 gorillas population which is half of the world’s total population of mountain gorillas, over 120 mammals.
Mishaya gorilla family was formed in 2010 and this happened after the fight between Nshongi who was the group leader and Mishaya who was an upcoming strong male. After the fight, Mishaya colonized 12 members of the Nshongi gorilla group and moved with them, however, the family has been breaking due to the death of some members and external fights that led to the taking of group members and currently the family has 8 members.
Mishaya was an aggressive male who fought tirelessly to protect the family from intruders, it is said that Mishaya was a family man who used to seduce female gorillas from other gorilla families to join his family and he would be so happy whenever he would win new female gorillas since he was increasing the number of mates, however, in February 2014, Mishaya the family head was found dead yet it did not show any signs of sickness.
Mishaya has sustained its name since 2010 even now that the group is led by a male silverback called Tinfayo who was a former member of the Nshongi family but left the Nshongi group in 2012, in 2018, Tinfayo regained the family, however, some members had joined Bikingi and Bweza gorilla families, currently Mishaya gorilla members; 1 silverback, 5 adult females, 1 juvenile and 1 infant. The Mishaya gorilla family can be tracked from Rushaga in the southwestern part of the park.
