4th Baby Gorilla born in Bwindi National Park as the welcome the 4th baby in a short period of two Months. The Covid break could have given the Gorillas enough time to bond together with less stress of the presence of visitors everyday giving them.
The new baby was born in Buhoma Sector in the Rushegura Gorilla Group and was born to mother Kabande. This new baby is Kabamde’s 5th surviving off spring and elevates her status in the group as the leading female Gorilla.
This is the second birth in this Gorilla group in a short period and makes the number of this gorilla family 17 individuals. UWA announced the new baby Gorilla on the 28th, August 2020 and the baby had been born on 27th, August 2020.
About the Rushegura Family.
Rushegura is located strategically near the park headquarters just about 15 minutes’ drive to the trail head to track the family. You may choose to start tracking from the park headquarters or drivew to the exact trail head in just 15 minutes. Rushegura is one of the 20 gorilla families in Uganda, 19 in Bwindi and one Gorilla group in Mgahinga Gorilla National park. It is located in the Buhoma Sector and was formed after separating from the Habiyanja family due to misunderstandings and fights in 1992. Rushegura was immediately opened for tracking since the family had been habituated in the previous group Habiyanja.
Rushegura was named after the place where this Gorilla group separated from the main group Habiyanja in February 2002. the group now has a total number of 18 members after the birth of the new Gorillas in a very short period of time.
Rushegura gorilla family was under the leadership of the late Mwirima (Silverback) who was not happy with Rwansigazi his brother who used to take the family (Habiyanja) far away for feeding. This led to displeasure since Mwirima was grown and broke off with some members to form his own family. Mwirima later died in 2014 and Rushegura family was left under the leadership of a dominant blackback.
The group was also known for crossing to Congo but has now finally settled in the Bwindi forest and is always available for tracking.
Other Gorilla families in the Buhoma sector include;
Mubare, Habiyanja, Bitukura, Katwe and Binyindo Gorilla families and are all available for tracking throught the year.

Nyakagezi gorilla family in Mgahinga

Nyakagezi is the only Gorilla family in Mgahinga gorilla national park in the Virunga area.
The family is dominated by a silverback known as Mark who overthrew his father Bugingo who is now about 53 years and still in the family which is unusual for mountain gorillas to stay with the family after being overthrown.
The name Nyakagezi originates from a place in the park where the group always spent their time, this gorilla family was always on the move and sometimes move far to the volcanoes national park in Rwanda and sometimes to Congo a few years ago. It was hard to track this group until last year 2018 when the family finally settled in Mgahinga and can be tracked with confidence that the family is in Mgahinga National Park.
Members of Nyakagezi gorilla family are Bugingo, Mathew, Nyiramwiza, Mafia, Nshuti, Rukundo, Mutagamba, and Nkanda all dominated by Mark. The group is fully habituated and was opened for tourism in 1994.
When visiting mount Mgahinga national park, tourists never want to miss to visit the local people. The Batwa trail reveals to you the forest people known as Batwa or pygmies-the first forest people. The Batwa lived in forests as hunter gathering for many years until they were displaced by government. Tourists enjoy learning about the lives and listen to ancient forest stories and also get entertained with local traditional dances.
A part from trekking the Nyakagezi gorilla family in Mgahinga, tourists can also go for golden monkey trekking, there are several troops of golden monkeys in park that have been habituated for tracking. Golden monkeys live in the Virunga mountains which includes Mgahinga and Volcanoes national parks. Golden monkeys are tracked at $100 per person and their permits are acquired from UWA headquarters or at the park headquarters in Kisoro. They are well known for their playful character as they go about their daily business.