Mountain gorillas are an endangered species of primates inhabiting the tropical rainforests of East and central Africa. Mountain gorillas are a sub species of Eastern gorillas with the other sub species found in Congo.
Mountain gorillas the world’s largest living apes sharing about 98 percent DNA with humans, each of their nose prints is unique to every individual just like human thumb prints. They spend most of the day foraging for food in the forest.
Mountain gorilla diet is mainly composed of bamboo shoot, leaves, fruits, bark, stem, roots and they sometimes supplement their diet with ants, insects and termites. They start foraging early morning at 6am until midday when they rest and resume in the afternoon until about 7pm when they build nests to sleep in.
Mubare gorilla family
Mubare mountain gorilla family is the oldest habituated gorilla group in Uganda; its habituation process started in 1991 and received its first visitors in 1993. The family derives its name from Mubare hills in Bwindi where the family was first sighted by rangers.
At the time of habituation, Mubare gorilla family had 18 members but due to some factors including the death of a baby in 2009 the number has reduced to 5 individuals over the years, it should be noted that numbers in gorilla groups keep on changing from time to time due to birth, members moving to other groups or death.
The group suffered hard times with many members dying and others joining other groups, Ruhondeza the dominating silverback at that time was attacked by non habituated mountain gorilla family in 2012 defeating Ruhondeza who ran to take refuge in a nearby community forest and was later found dead in sleep in 2013.
The group had no successor when Ruhondeza died because he was believed to have been practicing infanticide to avoid upcoming silverbacks from taking over his leadership. Ruhondeza was given a decent burial near the park headquarters and you can ask your ranger guide to show you his grave if you’re tracking Mubare gorilla family.
Ruhondeza was succeeded by Kanyonyi the silverback that has managed to increase the group number from 5 to 9 individuals. Mubare mountain gorillas’ family is one of the easiest gorilla families to trek in Buhoma sector of Bwindi national park.
Gorilla trekking
A group of 8 healthy tourists without infectious diseases like flu and cough are allowed to visit Mubare gorilla family in a day. The trekking starts early morning and takes about 30 minutes to 5 hours, once the group finds the family you will be given an hour to observe and take photos.
Best time to visit
Mubare gorilla family can be visited any time of the year but the best time is during dry season of June to August and February to December.
What to carry
When planning to trek mountain gorillas, tourists should know they live in tropical rainforests that require hiking therefore you will need hiking boots, garden gloves, insect repellents, warm clothing, plenty f drinking water and energy snacks among the rest.
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