Rwanda Volcanoes National Park Gorilla Groups

10 Gorilla Groups

Group 13 name changed to Agashya (meaning special)

Family size: 27 members, including 1 Silverback

This was the first habituated group and has grown from an initial 13 members! Can be found in the same area as the Sabyinyo group,

Sabyinyo Group

Family size: 13 members, including 2 Silverbacks, one of whom is the biggest of all the silverbacks in the volcanoes.

This group resides in the gentle slopes between Mount Sabyinyo and Gahinga and thus are easily accessible.

Amahoro (‘Peace’) Group

Family size: 18 members, including 2 Silverback

Generally to be found on the slopes of Mt Visoke – intermediate in difficulty.

Umubano (‘Live Together’) Group

Family size: 13 members, including 2 Silverbacks

This group was formed by members of the Amahoro family after one of the males (Charles) broke off in order to lead his own group. Their territory overlaps with that of the Amahoro Group.

Kwitonda Group

Family size: 23 members, including 4 Silverbacks

This family is named after the dominant Silverback of the group and means ‘humble one’. The group inhabits the lower slopes of Mt Muhabura and is also one of the more difficult families to track.

Karisimbi Group

Family size: 16 members, including 2 Silverbacks.

This group was formed when the largest gorilla family, Susa split into 2 groups. This hike is categorised as difficult and as its name denotes the group is found on lower levels of Mt Karisimbi.

Ugenda Group

Family size: 11 members including 2 Silverbacks

This group is found around Mt Bisoke and the hike is generally not too difficult.

Bwenge Group

Family size: 11 members including 1 Silverback

This group is found around Mt Bisoke and the hike is generally not too difficult.

Susa Group

Family Size: 33 members, including 2 Silverbacks

This group sometimes migrates to higher altitudes making them harder to track. The group is well known for having twins: Byishimo and Impano. This was also the group originally studied by Dian Fossey. Drive from the starting point from Kinigi takes approximately one hour and clients should be prepared for a severe hike. This group split in 2008, the name of the group which split from Susa is called Karisimbi with 15 members including 3 silverbacks.

Hirwa Group

Family size: 16 members, including 1 Silverback

This is still a relatively new group which was formed from two different families, Group 13 and Sabyinyo. Usually to be found in the foothills of Mt Sabyinyo on the Gahinga side. This group has two twins born at the beginning of 2011.

Costs for gorilla permits:

Gorilla rules

To protect the gorillas and visitors, the following rules must be adhered to:

What to take – a checklist

Porters are available at a modest cost