MUBARE GORILLA FAMILY

Location: Buhoma sector

This is the oldest habituated gorilla family and the first to be opened for tourism in the whole of bwindi impenetrable national park with 11 members. The family was habituated between 1991 and 1993. Named mubare gorilla family (M group) after the stunning mubare hills where the family was first spotted. Originally was a big family with more than 18 members led by dominant silverback Ruhondeza. As time went on Ruhondeza grew older, was unable to defend his family from younger and energetic silverbacks that wanted to grab his female members. As such the family lost many members due to raids and kidnappings from others gorilla family silverbacks. Also deaths, defections and Ruhondeza infanticide behavior significantly reduced family members. Ruhondeza had the habit of killing babies to prevent any competition from them when they eventually grow up. By year 2009, the family had only 5 members left. Ruhondeza died in June 2012 aged 50 and was succeeded by his son kanyonyi one of the lucky few servivors of Ruhondeza’s infant killings. Kanyonyi tried to keep the family together and also tried to add more members. By 2013 he had managed to add other four members and rised the number to nine. Kanyonyi died in 2017 aged 21 after a double disaster that befell him. First he fell off the tree and badly injured himself and as he was recovering from the injuries, he was attacked by the lonely intruder silverback Malaya that wanted to take over his family. In his weak state of healthy, kanyonyi tried to fight off the invader but was badly defeated and sustained serious body injuries that he was unable to recover from. He was succeeded by invader silverback Malaya which in the local language mean proustite due to his behavior of cheating on females from different gorilla families. The family is located in buhoma sector of bwindi impenetrable national park.