RUSHAGA GORILLA SECTOR

The Rushaga gorilla sector among the four sectors of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is the most unique of them all. This is because the Rushaga gorilla sector is the only sector where gorilla habituation is done. The Rushaga sector is located in the southern region of Bwindi offering artistic views of the park. This sector is strategically located close to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its location helps to give it beautiful views of the Virunga Mountain ranges on the horizon. The Rushaga gorilla sector is among the four sectors of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park with the most number of families.

Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is the home of the mighty gentle giants the endangered mountain gorillas. Bwindi harbors about 459 mountain gorillas which is more than half of the entire population of mountain gorillas. The endangered mountain gorillas can only be found in the Virunga conservation area. This area involves the parks of Virunga of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bwindi Impenetrable and Mgahinga of Uganda, and Volcanoes National Park of Rwanda.

Gorilla families in the Rushaga gorilla sector

The sector of Rushaga is surely one that meets every visitor’s expectation by making their dreams come to reality. There are 8 families in this sector and they include the following.

Mishaya gorilla family

The Mishaya gorilla family is a well-known gorilla family located in the Rushaga gorilla sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This family gets its name from their leader the silverback Mishaya. This family was once part of the Nshongi gorilla family but later Mishaya broke away from this family to start up his own family. Mishaya had a fighting character and would always raid other non-habituated gorilla families and take their females. When the Mishaya family broke away, it had only 7 members but grew with time to 12 members. Mishaya is the only silverback in this family.

Nshongi gorilla family

The Nshongi gorilla family was first sighted near a River in the park called Nshongi. Hence it was named after the river. The Nshongi family is located in the Rushaga gorilla sector in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. It is among the largest gorilla family to be habituated with over 32 members. Nshongi the alpha male is the dominant sliver of the family. This family is peaceful with all members living in harmony. Due to the vast size of this Nshongi family, it split into two other families Bweza and Bikingi. The Nshongi gorilla family after this division was left with only 10 members.

Kahungye gorilla family

The Kahungye gorilla family in the Rushaga sector of Bwindi was habituated for 2 years and in 2011 opened for trekking. By the time of its sighting, it has about 29 members including 3 silverbacks. It was named after the place where it was first sighted on Kahungye Hill in the sector. This family is under the reigning leadership of Rumanzi a dominant silverback. The Kahungye family was later on reduced to 17 members due to internal fights. These fights for dominancy, leadership, and mating rights forced the other members to split. This led to the creation of the Busingye gorilla family.

Bweza gorilla family

The Bweza gorilla family is also part of the Rushaga sector. The family is named after the silverback Bweza for rules this family. The Bweza family was part of the big group of Nshongi family, a large group of 32 members. The fearless fighter Mishaya decided to start his own family and left the big Nshongi family. Bweza left with Mishaya and other females. However, at the end of 2012, Bweza left Mishaya to create his family accompanied by 6 different females.

Busingye gorilla family

Busingye is a word from the local language Rukiga meaning peace. This family was named Busingye because it is one of the most peaceful families in Rushaga. This family is also a tricky and hard family to track. This is because it is fond of staying in the center of the forest requiring a strong physicality of trek it. Despite its name meaning peace, the dominant silverback Busingye is a ruthless legendary fighter who conquers females from other families and adds them to his. The Busingye gorilla family has 10 members.

Bikingi gorilla family

The Bikingi gorilla family is a family in the Rushaga sector of Bwindi still under habituation. It was formed after the unfortunate downfall of the Mishaya gorilla family. The Mishaya family was once strong under the command of the courageous Mishaya the Silverback. He was a ruthless fighter often expanding his family by conquering other females from non-habituated families. On the 3^rd of February 2014, Mishaya breathed his last after an obstruction of the intestinal gut. Mishaya was the only silverback in his family and because of this all the females scattered to the other families including the Bikingi family. Because most of the females from the former Mishaya to Bikingi family were not habituated, the family is still being habituated and not open to trekking.

Rwigi gorilla family

Name after the alpha male silverback Rwigi, the Rwigi family is among the newly habituated gorilla families in the Rushaga sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This family was once part of the big family of Kahungye but after internal fights the silverback Rwigi decided to move. He started up his family with some females and infants he came with from the Kahungye gorilla family.

Mucunguzi gorilla family

Savior as the English description of the Rukiga word Mucunguzi means, is a family in the Rushaga sector. This family was named after its leader the silverback Mucunguzi. The story behind the formation of this family is quite interesting. It begins way back in the Bweza family where Mucunguzi was the third in command among the silverbacks in the Bweza family. After a misunderstanding, the dominant alpha banished Mucunguzi for disobedience from the family. Mucunguzi was met with the harsh reality of being a loner in the harsh Rushaga sector. After a short time in this life, Mucunguzi thought that his time was now and decided that he needed a family. Mucunguzi invaded the Bikingi gorilla family and took some females for his own. The Mucunguzi family is now composed of 10 members with 9 females.

Conclusion

Finally, the Rushaga gorilla sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a one-stop center for any gorilla adventure experience. The Rushaga sector on top of offering gorilla trekking safaris, it boosts as the only sector with gorilla habituation experience in Bwindi. With over 8 habituated gorilla families, visitors are assured of encountering these endangered mountain gorillas. Despite the distance to the sector in the far south of Bwindi, the Rushaga gorilla sector on top of offering unmatched gorilla experiences has beautiful views of the Virunga mountain ranges in the Democratic Republic of Congo.