Bitukura Gorilla Group
Bitukura Gorilla Group is one of the Gorilla families in the Ruhija sector of Bwindi Impenetrable forest National Park. The Bitukura group got its name from a river inside the forest called Bitukura. Where the group first sighted. The group turned out to be among the gorilla groups in Bwindi with the most number of members. It originally had 24 members but as time went on, it reduced to 14 members including 4 silver backs. These include, Ndahura, Karamusizi, Rukara and Rukumu.
The Habituation of this family started in 2007 before opened to Tourism in 2008. The habituation process of this group was among the shortest ever taking. About 6 months compared to the minimum 2 years which are recommended. Bound to happen simply. Because the Bitukura group is so close to the Kyaguriro gorilla group with whom they partly spend time with.
Despite the fact that the group lost some members. They are the most peaceful and also the most visited group in the Ruhija sector of Bwindi.
The group is fascinating with Ndahura the 2nd youngest silverback being the leader after taking over from the former leader Karamusizi. Sadly, Karamusizi’s years of dominance came to an end due to his old age of 40.
The other members who later on joined the group and the recent group birth of Ruhara has increased the tally of this family. The birth of a baby gorilla was a bundle of joy to the Bitukura family. A creation “Ndahura” the leader of the family is willing to guard the rest of his life.
Except the dominant male, the silverbacks move together with two blackbacks belonging to this gorilla group. Rukumu is now the dominant leader of this group, he took over the family from Ndahura who passed away after falling down from a tree in December 2016.
Bitukura group currently composed of 13 individuals, this includes; 2 Silverbacks, 2 Blackbacks, 4 Adult females, 1 Sub-adult male, 2 Juveniles and 2 Infants. This group renowned for multi-male tolerance in the group. Sometimes with up to five adult males living in the same group at once. Bitukura group likes foraging around Ruhija tourism station of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and sometimes along the forest edges in the sector.