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What you need to know about Nyakagezi Gorilla Group?

This fascinating group is the only habituated gorilla family in Mgahinga National Park. The existence of over 80 mountain gorillas in this Park means it is among the only four habitats of these Critically Endangered Jungle Apes. Mgahinga is located in South Western Uganda (in Kisoro district) and is the smallest National Park covering an area of 33.7 square kilometers (3370 hectares).Because it is the only group in the park, UWA sells only 8 gorilla permits for this Park per day.

Mgahinga is part of the Virunga complex that comprises of 3 parks and shares borders with Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Virunga National Park in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). No wonder the Nyakagezi family sometimes pays a visit to their Virunga and Volcanoes counterparts.

Though this group is mobile and crosses over to Rwanda and DRC, it is considered the easiest to track in Uganda because they are found in areas of lower altitude and prefer a small home range for nesting, relaxing and feeding (because of abundance of food). It is believed that the family has now returned to Mgahinga National Park since 2012 and in May 2013 a baby was welcomed in the family. Now it is easier to track this gorilla group because they have a permanent settlement unlike initially where they were always on the move. More and more tourists are now visiting the Park to track this interesting group.

They are comprised of 10 members including 4 silverbacks, 2 adult females, 2 blackbacks, 2 juveniles and 1 infant. The dominant silverback is Mark who took over leadership from his father Bugingo. The other members include Mathew and Mafia (silverbacks), Nyiramwiza and Nshuti (adult females), Rukundo and Ndungutse (blackbacks), Nkanda and Furaha (juveniles), Mutagamba (Infant).

Bugingo the oldest silverback is believed to be more than 54 years. A rare but interesting fact about the Nyakagezi group is that Bugingo still lives in
the family yet in most cases, once the dormant silverback is overthrown, he is banished and dies in isolation or seeks refuge from other gorilla groups. For example in Mubare group, after Kanyonyi took over leadership from Ruhondeza, the latter left the group and lived a solitary life until he died.
Due to their mobile and unpredictable behavior, gorilla permits for Nyakagezi group have to be booked at the UWA Park headquarters in Ntebeko and it is always important to first confirm within 24 hours to ascertain whether they are within the Park or have crossed to other countries.

If you are interested in tracking the captivating Nyakagezi group, you can access Mgahinga National Park by road or air transport. By air, flights can be organized by Eagle Air to Kisoro town. Mgahinga is approximately 540 kms from Kampala (i.e. 8-10 hours by road) using Kampala-Kabale-Kisoro. Alternatively, you can connect to Mgahinga National Park via Kigali which is a 3 hours’ drive.

Besides tracking the Nyakagezi group, tourists can engage in Golden Monkey tracking because this is the only Park in Uganda where Silver meet Gold, the interesting Batwa trail (that takes you through the life of the “People of the Forest” who were hunter-gatherers), Birding (because the park is a home of over 79 species of birds) and mountain hiking (to Mt Sabyinyo, Mt Muhavura and Mgahinga Volcanoes).

Comfortable accommodation exists in Mt Gahinga Rest Camp, Mgahinga Safari Lodge, Blue Sky Hotel, Kisoro Travellers Rest Inn, Red Chilli Hideaway Gorilla Camp and Mgahinga Safari Lodge.

In conclusion, the Nyakagezi group is one of the interesting gorilla groups worth tracking in Uganda because of it being the only gorilla group in Mgahinga, their mobile behavior and the fact that the silverbacks of the family (especially the oldest silverback “Bugingo” and the reigning silverback) live together happily.

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