Gorilla Families in Nkuringo Sector
Nkuringo Sector is one of four gorilla trekking sectors making up Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, surprisingly it is one of the least popular areas for gorilla trekking experience in Bwindi. This section of gorilla trekking in Bwindi was the second to be established in 2004, a decade after opening the Buhoma Sector north of the park. It is popular among tourists, after Buhoma with some of the most challenging to reach and the most entertaining gorilla groups in Uganda.
The first ever gorilla family to be habituated in Nkuringo Sector is called Nkuringo Gorilla Sector, the sector has three other gorilla families that is Posho, Bushaho and Christmas as detailed below.
Nkuringo Gorilla Family
Nkuringo Gorilla Family is the first-ever habituated gorilla family in Nkuringo Sector consisting of 13 members, led by Silverback Rwamutwe, with support from his brother Tabu. This group is known for its challenging but rewarding treks and is steeped in legacy, having once been led by the famed Rafiki.
Nkuringo Gorilla Family has 2 silverbacks, 5 adult females, 1 sub-adult, and 5 young gorillas.
The family spends much of its time foraging beyond the park boundaries. Therefore, the Uganda Wildlife Authority created a buffer zone to prevent conflicts with the local communities. Gorilla trekking in the Nkuringo Sector is mostly done on rugged land which makes it quite thrilling.
Silverback Nkuringo led the group till his death, in 2008 at the age of 45, leaving the family in Silverback Safari’s capable leadership. Safari had a successful tenure until he disappeared after a deadly encounter with the Bushaho gorilla group that lived nearby. Up to this day, rangers have failed to locate the whereabouts of Silverback Safari. Silverback Rafiki, next in line, immediately took up the dominant position after the appearance of safaris’ disappearance.
The Nkuringo Gorilla Family was availed by UWA for tourism in April 2004 after a four – year Habituation process, this was the first habituated gorilla group in the Bwindi Southern Sector.
Posho Gorilla Family
Posho Gorilla Family is a newly habituated gorilla family in Nkuringo Sector, named after the founding dominant silverback called Posho. The formation of this family was a result of Posho breaking away from the Nkuringo Family under the leadership of Rafiki.
Posho is a name of the food that trackers used to eat during the habituation period of this group. Currently the group is under the leadership of dominant silverback – Magara.
Posho Gorilla Family has 17 members including 1silverback, 8 adult females, 2 sub-adult females, 2 juveniles and 4 infants.
Christmas Gorilla Family
Christmas Gorilla Family is a group of 8 led by the tough dominant silverback – Christmas. As the name suggests, the dominant silverback was born on Christmas day and the members include 1 silverback, 2 adult females, 1 sub-adult female, 2 juveniles and 2 infant gorillas.
The Christmas gorilla family was established primarily by members who broke away from the Nkuringo Gorilla Family. Therefore, the family did not have to undergo the usual habituation process before being available for gorilla trekking tours.
Bushaho Gorilla Family
Bushaho Gorilla Family is a group of 8 members, led by Silverback Bahati. The group is known for their tight-knit nature and often spotted lounging on sun-drenched slopes.
Following unexplained individual dispersals from the Nkuringo family after Silverback Nkuringo’s death, researchers searched for their whereabouts in early 2012. They discovered that one of the former Nkuringo group’s silverbacks, Bahati, who had disappeared earlier, led a parallel group. Some of the members in the group were former members of the Nkuringo group, among other non-habituated members.
What started as a follow-up exercise later led to close monitoring of the parallel group’s social behavior. The group was later habituated and named “Bushaho” meaning “there is nothing” in the local language, inspired by the name of the place to gorilla family forages.
Gorilla Trekking in Nkuringo Sector
There are four gorilla groups for Gorilla trekking in Nkuringo sector, the treks leave the Uganda Wildlife Authority trail head and head to the south of the Bwindi Jungle to find and spend one hour with the mountain gorillas. These daily gorilla trekking excursions are the main attraction to the Nkuringo Sector.
Though mountain gorilla groups usually maintain a maximum of 16 sq mi home range, their movements are unpredictable, and it could take approximately 30 minutes to one hour to find them. Treks in Nkuringo leave at 08:00 every day after a short briefing at the UWA hall for rules and regulations.
Two armed rangers for security and an expert tracker are assigned to each trekking group to take through the thick, pristine jungle and help them fruitfully spend one hour at safe distance of 32 ft (10 meters) from the mountain gorilla family.
A Gorilla permit for the Nkuringo Sector costs US$ 800 per person for all non-resident foreign guests, this is the same price for the permits for all other three gorilla trekking sectors in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
