Gorilla Families in Congo : Gorilla families in Congo are found within Virunga National Park and Kahuzi Beiga and in which gorillas groom each other and grow. There are eight habituated gorilla families in Congo. Democratic Republic of Congo is among the countries in the world which is blessed with abundance of untapped and virgin plant life, birds and wildlife species. Virunga National Park is a gem worth to encounter although wracked by political unrest in recent years, the country and more specifically the Virunga National Park is safe and tourism activities are ongoing within the park.

Gorilla trekking in Congo is relatively cheaper at only 400 USD as compared to Uganda’s 800 USD and Rwanda’s 1,500 USD. Early in the mornings tourists in a group of 8 are set out to visit these endangered mountain gorillas in their respective families. The eight fully habituated gorilla families in Congo are available for trekking and these include;

KABIRIZI GORILLA FAMILY

This gorilla family is under the leadership of kabirizi the powerful and yet humble dominant silverback. This is found in the Bukima section next to Goma. The group was named after the director of the Congolese institute of conservation of nature who died in a traffic accident. The family was named Ndungutse the dominant silverback that had replaced his father Zunguruka who had died of old age. Unfortunately, Ndugutse was shot dead in 1997 when he was caught in a crossfire between the government soldiers and the rebels. This led to having no head silverback to take the leadership of the family thus leading to the coming of kabirizi who is a wild gorilla. However, he faces threats of late from ambitious silverback Masibo who undermines his leadership.

RUGENDO GORILLA FAMILY

The gorilla family was named after its leader Rugendo who was killed. The family is currently under the leadership of Bukima the silverback who was originally from Buhanga. The family used to be large with 18 members but when a split came about, Humba left with 10 members. Rugendo is highly credited for fathering great silverbacks such as Humba, Mpawe, Nyakamwe, Baseka, Lubutu, Mauna and others that went ahead to lead most families. Rugendo family currently has nine members with 3 silverbacks, 1 black back, 1 adult female, 2 sub adult females and 2 babies. The group is found in Mikeno sector just in between Bukima and Bikenge.

MAPUWE GORILLA FAMILY

This is one of Rugendo’s offspring that he sired. Mapuwe has been on the helm of this gorilla family’s of leadership for close to 20 years that have been full of violent struggles. The family is found in Jomba next to Uganda and Congo border of Bunagana. At the time that he left his father’s family, he had left with 2 adult females but over the years, he has got more members. This number is not only from births within the family but through aggressive acquisitions as well. In 2002, Mapuwe took over all family members of Pilipili one of the strongest silverbacks in the virunga national park.

HUMBA GORILLA FAMILY

Humba gorilla family in Congo is located in Bukima and was named after Humba, the family’s lead silverback. Humba was separated from his father Rugendo in 1998 with 6 individuals and he is a brother to Senkwekwe who was killed in 2007 by gunmen. The family in 2014 had 16 members but due to a split, the number reduced and Humba stayed with only 6 individuals while his brother Nyakamwe left with 10 individuals. Humba has since grown in number due to births and acquisitions.

NYAKAMWE GORILLA FAMILY

This is one of the recent habituated gorilla families that were opened for gorilla trekking in Congo within the Virunga National park. It was habituated along with the largest family of Began. Nyakamwe gorilla family has eleven members with Nyakamwe as the lead silverback.

LULENGO GORILLA FAMILY

This family was originally called Musekura, lulengo gorilla family was renamed to suit the dominant silverback gorilla that was named in memory of the technical Director of Virunga National Park that was killed by a land mine. The lulengo gorilla family has 9 members of late.

MUNYAGA GORILLA FAMILY

The family is located in the Bukima sector of the Virunga. The Munyaga gorilla family was first put up for habituation in 2008. The family was named Munyaga after the family leader by then although currently it’s under the leadership of Gasore. The group is known and loved by many because of the mother of twins called Bilali and the bald headed silverback called Kadogo.

BAGENI GORILLA FAMILY

This is the largest gorilla family in the Virunga National Park at the moment with over 26 members. With having many family members, it’s bound to have divisions very soon. The gorilla family is currently being led by Bageni the dominant silverback. The group has 2 more silverbacks and they are a threat to Bageni.

In spite of the on and off volatility of Congo region, the Virunga national park staff and other conservationists are doing all they can to protect these endangered mountain gorillas of Congo and as well rehabilitate those that are hurt due to poaching, trappings laid for them by animal traffickers and many more.