Situated in the northern sector of Bwindi National Park, Mubare is renowned as the pioneer gorilla family not only in Bwindi but in Uganda as a whole. Following a successful habituation process lasting over two years, the Mubare family was fully launched for trekking in 1993.
At that time, Bwindi was home to only about 200 mountain gorillas, all of which were not habituated and therefore were easy targets for poachers. As mountain gorillas gained popularity, efforts to continuously conserve and protect their habitats led to the initiation of habituation activities.
The Mubare family was first spotted in the nearby Mubare Hills (hence its name), and its habituation began in 1991, lasting up to two years. The family originally consisted of 18 members at the time of habituation, but due to frequent attacks in subsequent years, the group drastically reduced in numbers. Several fights with other wild gorillas, kidnappings, deaths, and poaching were among the many challenges that befell the Mubare group.
The worst raid on this group occurred in 2012, which left Ruhondeza, the lead silverback, dead and the group with only five members. Ruhondeza died at the age of 50 and was accorded a decent burial given his history with the family. Silverback Kanyonyi, Ruhondeza’s son, later took over leadership, and by 2013, the Mubare gorilla family had increased to nine members. Sadly, Kanyonyi also died in 2017.
Today, the Mubare family comprises one silverback, one blackback, five adult females, and two infants. This fascinating gorilla family is one of the easiest to track in Uganda due to its close location to the park headquarters; however, this may vary from time to time depending on seasons and weather. Sometimes tracking this group can take as little as one hour, but trekkers can also spend up to five hours looking for this family.
The trailhead to begin the Mubare gorilla trek is at Buhoma Park headquarters, and it is usually allocated to the elderly or weak due to its proximity to the park headquarters.
Because of its history, Mubare has become one of the most fascinating gorilla families in Uganda, with the highest demand from gorilla trekkers. Therefore, securing gorilla permits to trek the Mubare family requires advance booking, up to one full year before the trekking date.
