Kabirizi is one of the eight gorilla families currently inhabiting the popular Virunga National Park. Named after its lead silverback Kabirizi, it is one of the pioneer families in Virunga National Park, with its history dating back to the 1990s.
Initially, the group was called Zunguruka, led by silverback Zunguruka, who shortly died of old age, leading to the rise of his son, Ndungutse. Silverback Ndungutse led the group until 1997, when he was killed in a crossfire between Rwandan and D.R. Congo militias near the Bukima Park headquarters.
By the time of Ndungutse’s death, the group had up to 13 members under the leadership of Buhanga (Ndungutse’s son), who took over leadership soon after.
However, continued resistance from silverback Karateka, his brother, forced the two to split, and Karateka left to form his own group with only three members. Months later, there was another clash between Karateka and Buhanga, where Buhanga managed to recapture the three members back to his group, leaving Karateka as a lone silverback.
Later in 1998, Buhanga was engaged in another serious fight with a lone silverback, Kabirizi, who left him with grave injuries. Nevertheless, Buhanga managed to keep all his members intact, although the injuries later claimed his life. After his death, the family was left wandering without a silverback until an adult female named Nsekuye took over leadership.
Nsekuye’s leadership was short-lived, and on 23rd February 1998, she was overthrown by Munyaga, a lone silverback. Silverback Munyaga continued leading the group until another silverback, Kabirizi, interacted with him and took all his female gorillas to form a bigger group called the Kabirizi family.
Silverback Kabirizi had misunderstandings with his son Bageni, which led to their separation on 27th January 2013. Bageni left with 20 members, while Kabirizi remained with 16 individuals.
Today, the Kabirizi group inhabits the areas of Bukima sector and is composed of up to 19 members, including three silverbacks, five adult females, three sub-adult females, three sub-adult males, four babies, and one juvenile.
