Rushaga Gorilla Sector is found in the Southern part of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Kisoro district. It’s one other four sectors found in the park. The gorilla trekking sectors in Bwindi national park include; Rushaga, Nkuringo, Ruhija and Buhoma.
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park was established in 1991 to protect the endangered mountain gorillas. This Park borders districts of Rubanda, Kanungu and Kisoro, and extends to eastern D. R. Congo. Bwindi covers an area of 331km2 thus giving ample space for the mountain gorillas to flourish and multiply. The huge size of the park and its thick forests have led to the creation of trekking sectors / regions thus increasing the park activities.
Rushaga gorilla sector is home to eight habituated gorilla families and two groups are still undergoing habituation. Each gorilla family is dominated by a male silverback.
Habituated Gorilla Families in Rushaga Gorilla Sector include;
- Nshongi
- Mucunguzi
- Rwigi
- Busingye
- Mishaya
- Bweza
- Bikingi
- Kahungye
Nshongi gorilla family
Nshongi got its name from the Nshongi river that is found in the park, it is where these gorillas were first sighted and it is a fully habituated gorilla family in Rushaga. The family had initially over 34 members which grew into rivalry, especially between the males. The group later split to form Mishaya in 2010, and later in 2012 the group got into disputes and split to form Bweza.
Today the family is composed of 8 members that are;
- 1 silverback,
- 1 blackback,
- 3 females,
- 1 sub-adult,
- 2 infants.
The Nshongi gorilla family is available for trekking daily, for anyone who visits the park.
Mucunguzi gorilla family
This family got its name from the dominant male called Mucunguzi which means redeemer in the local language. This silverback left Bweza at maturity to go and roam the jungles to start its own family and after a couple of years of being solitary, Mucunguzi attacked Bikingi and snatched some females to start his family, that have been growing to now 12 members. Mucunguzi Gorilla Family is also available for trekkers in the Rushaga gorilla sector.
Bweza gorilla family.
Bweza gorilla family is led by a dominant male called Kanono, the group is fully habituated and available for trekking in Rushaga Gorilla Sector. This was formed in 2013 when some of the members from Nshongi family trusted Kanono to lead them from Bweza’s leadership, they later got misunderstandings and split to form Mucunguzi gorilla family. The group is famous for foraging on the community land which is adjacent to the park. They don’t always enter deep in the thickest canopies.
The group has 11 members and these are;
- 3 silverbacks,
- 4 females,
- 1 juvenile,
- 3 infants.
Bikingi gorilla family.
Bikingi was born when the dominant male Bikingi was attacked and killed by a lone unnamed gorilla that would attack the group, not until this gorilla attacked Bikingi and ended his life. Some of the Bikingi members crossed to Mucunguzi, Uganda Wildlife Authority decided to maintain the name Bikingi.
In 2012 the group was declared under habituation as a follow-up on the disintegrated Mishaya group, they indeed discovered that most of the members were living alongside other non-habituated members in the group. UWA later declared the group to be under habituation.
The group currently has 10 members;
- 1 silverback,
- 1 Blackback,
- 4 adult females,
- 2 juveniles.
Kahungye gorilla family.
The group is dominated by a male called Ruziika with 13 family members. According to the research, this family group may not stay together for a long time since Ruziika doesn’t like sharing especially sharing the females so the family members separate to form their own groups at maturity. Habituation for this group started in 2008 and the group had over 29 members including 3 adult male silverbacks; Ruziika, Busingye and Rwigi.
Due to constant fights in the group in 2012, Busingye split to form his own group, and later also Rwigi left to form the Rwigi gorilla family.
Rwigi gorilla sector.
This is a new group formed after separation from Kahungye gorilla family. Rwigi got its name from the dominant male called Rwigi which means “door” in the local dialect. All members in Rwigi were habituated from Kahungye group before separation, and therefore the group didn’t go through another habituation process. UWA is taking a close look at the members’ movements and the group is available for trekking in Rushaga.
Mishaya gorilla family.
Mishaya was formed in 2010 when it split from Nshongi to form another group led by a silverback called Mishaya. On 3rd February 2014, a dominant silverback Mishaya died from the intestinal gut, this left the family unruly since it didn’t have a male to guide them through the jungles. Some members decided to go back to Bikingi and Bweza groups in May 2018, researchers rediscovered Mishaya members under the leadership of silverback Tinfayo, a former member of Nshongi.
The re-habituation of the newly discovered Mishaya family was inevitable to keep monitoring the already habituated members. This is the latest group to be added to the Rushaga sector for gorilla trekking.
The Mishaya gorilla family is now under the leadership of Tinfayo, which means unconcerned/calm/cool or casual. The group is currently composed of 10 members;
- 1 Silverback,
- 1 Blackback,
- 4 Adult females,
- 1 Sub-adult female,
- 3 Infants.
Busingye gorilla family.
This is one of the fully habituated gorilla families in Bwindi’s Rushaga sector and is available for trekking daily. The group is under the leadership of Busingye in the jungles of southern Bwindi national park. Busingye is a local language meaning peaceful but the character of Busingye is different from his name since it has been seen attacking other gorilla families to expand the family.
Almost all the members of Busingye were habituated from Kahungye group in 2008 before fission. In march 2012, silverback Busingye separated from Kahungye group to form Busingye group and this group is always in the deep forests not near the forest edges.
The group is composed of 12 members;
- 1 Silverback,
- 1 Blackback,
- 5 Adult females,
- 3 Juveniles,
- 2 infants.
Busingye gorilla group is one of the most entertaining groups, having the young ones play around their father and he allows them to climb him up and down. Anyone who visits this group, will truly enjoy a rewarding gorilla safari in Uganda.
