Officially opened for tracking in 1999, the Habinyanja gorilla family is the second oldest gorilla group to be habituated in Bwindi National Park after Mubare. The habituation of Habinyanja began in 1997 and lasted for only two years until 1999, when the first group of tourists visited it.
The name Habinyanja derives from the local Kiga dialect “Nyanja,” which means a place of water, due to a small river within the forest where this family was first sighted.
Habinyanja is an interesting family made up of 18 members, with one silverback known as Makara and one dominant alpha female, Kisho. Predominantly, Makara is the incumbent head of the group, which includes Maraya – the black back, Mizayo (who was brutally murdered by poachers), and adult females Nyabuche, Binyonko, Rukundo, Rugyendo, and Nyamuhango. Ruyombo is the sub-adult female, Kavuyo the sub-adult male, and Hamusini, Malaika, and Elisa are juveniles.
Habinyanja group of gorillas is among the five habituated gorilla families that can be trekked from Buhoma, where one called Binyindo is mainly for research. To reach the starting point, you sometimes need to drive for 30-45 minutes to the trailhead at Nyamishaba village, depending on where they are.
At the time of habituation, Mugurusi, which means “Old man” in Rikiga, was the dominant silverback despite his old age. The most interesting part was that, at the time of habituation, Mugurusi commanded a big group of 30 members, which is quite large compared to other families, whether habituated or not. As time went on, Mugurusi had to pass away because of old age.
This later caused succession disputes as the siblings fought for leadership of the family. At the time of Mugurusi’s death, the family had four silverbacks waiting in line to succeed their father. These silverbacks were Rwansigazi, which means “The youthful boy,” Mwirima, which means “darkness,” and Makara, “Charcoal.”
Rwansigazi was supposed to succeed Mugurusi, but because, at the time of his death, Mwirima had equally grown stronger and wanted to challenge for family leadership. For several years, Rwansigazi and Mwirima shared power after their father’s death, but as time went on, something had to happen.
History has it that due to the differences, these two silverbacks decided to separate and form two gorilla families, depending on the interests of the members.
In 2002, the family had to separate. Those members who preferred adventure followed Rwansigazi, while those who preferred a smaller range remained with Mwirima. No fights were reported at the time of separation. The group that stayed with Rwansigazi maintained the name Habinyanja, while the one that left came to be known as Rushegura.
