Mountain gorilla families in Virunga national park Congo
MOUNTAIN GORILLA FAMILIES IN VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK CONGO
Mountain gorilla families in Virunga national park : There are so far 8 habituated Mountain gorilla families in Virunga national park Congo that are available for gorilla trekking safari in Congo all year round. Virunga national park is one of the World heritage site and as well the oldest national park in Africa that was gazette in 1925 under the Belgium government but now the park is managed by Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature ICCN.
Below are the 8 Gorilla families that one could trek in Virunga national park
- Rugendo Gorilla family
Rugendo Gorilla family was named after the silverback Rugendo who later on passed on and was replaced by Silverback Bukima. Rugendo Gorilla family consists of 9 family members yet it initially had over 18 members but due to internal conflicts between the Rugendo and the son Humba, Humba decided to leave with other 9 members leaving Rugendo family with only 8 members after which Rugendo also grabbed one other member from Mapuwa and made 9 members.
- Humba Gorilla Family
Humba Gorilla Family consists of 10 family members and was named after the dominant Silverback Humba who is yet the group leader. Humba was part of Rugendo until in 1996 when he had a serous fight with the father (Rugendo) and decided to leave the group with other 6 members to start own family. Humba gorilla family is one of the easiest gorilla families to trek in Virunga national park since it stays within Bukima area of Virunga national park.
- Mapuwa Gorilla family
Mapuwa Gorilla family as well was formed in 1997 as a result of the silverback Mapuwa splitting from its original family Rugendo and took along 2 females to make his own family that was named after his name. Mapuwa Gorilla family consists of 24 family members thrilling around Congo Rwanda boarder. Mapuwa is one of the strongest silverback in Virunga national park found of fighting as much as possible to protect his family members and even grab more members from other families the reason it has a large number of family members.
- Munyaga Gorilla family
Munyaga Gorilla family is led by the dominant silverback Gasore who took over from Mawazo silverback. Munyaga Gorilla family is the smallest family amongst all the 8 families in Virunga national park though it was blessed to be the only family with twins.
- Nyakamwe Gorilla family
Nyakamwe Gorilla family is a newly habituated gorilla family in Virunga national park led by Nyakamwe the dominant silverback who split form Humba family and decided to make his own family in 2014. Nyakamwe Gorilla family has 11 family members.
- Lulengo Gorilla family
Lulengo Gorilla family was at first called Maseruka after which it was renamed to Lulengo to commemorate the Technician of Virunga National park that lost his life in a land mine. Lulengo Gorilla family consists of 9 family members and is found near Congo-Uganda border.
- Bageni Gorilla family
Bageni Gorilla family is the known to be the largest gorilla family in Virunga national park with over 26 family members. Bageni Gorilla family split from Kabirizi gorilla family and made his own family and was named Kabirizi Gorilla family
- Kabirizi Gorilla family
Kabirizi Gorilla family is one of the 8 habituated gorilla families in Virunga national park and it consists of 19 members under the leadership of Kabirizi the dominant silverback. Kabirizi Gorilla family was first called Ndugutse named after the silverback Ndugutse after which it was replaced to Kabirizi when Ndugutse was killed in 1997 during the fight between the Congo Army and rebels. This gorilla family thrills around Bukima area.
These 8 gorilla families are each trekked by a number of 8 persons on a daily basis imply that Virunga national park issues out 64 gorilla trekking permits per day. A permit to trek these gorillas in Virunga national park costs $400 per person during low season and $200 per person during high season/ peak season.
This implies that Congo remains the cheapest country to visit for gorilla trekking adventure on a budget safari unlike a permit to trek similar gorillas at $700 per person in Uganda and $1500 per person in Rwanda.
