News from the Bwindi reached us on 30 June 2026.
Nderema, one of the Nkuringo Gorilla Family’s adult females, gave birth near River Ivi in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Navigating the jungle floor, she held the infant close, as gorilla mothers do during the earliest days, and its sex could not yet be confirmed.
The birth has brought the family to 15 members.
For anyone following the Nkuringo family, a new infant is welcome news. For those of us who work on the ridge above the forest, it also brings us back to the family’s long history and the part it has played in shaping this corner of southern Bwindi.
In my work telling Nkuringo’s story, I often have to explain what sits behind the name. The answer begins with place: the Nkuringo ridge, the forest below it and the gorilla family whose history is closely tied to the development of trekking in this sector.
The Nkuringo Gorilla Family in July 2026
According to the latest field update from Mpatswe Emmanuel, a ranger in Bwindi’s Nkuringo Sector, the family currently comprises:
15 gorillas
- 2 silverbacks
- 6 adult females
- 2 subadults
- 1 juvenile
- 4 infants
Rwamutwe is the dominant silverback. Tabu remains with the group as the second silverback.
Nderema’s infant is the youngest member of the family. Its sex will be confirmed when rangers have a clear view without disturbing mother and baby.
Family numbers can change as infants are born, young gorillas mature, females transfer and males leave or challenge for leadership. The current total captures the family as it stands now, under Rwamutwe’s leadership and with four infants growing within the group.
Nkuringo group was the first habituated gorilla family in southern Bwindi
The Nkuringo family holds an important place in the history of gorilla trekking in Uganda.
“Nkuringo was the first group to be habituated in the southern sector,” Mpatswe Emmanuel explained in his field update. “That is why it carries the name Nkuringo.”
The southern side of Bwindi now includes the gorilla trekking areas around Nkuringo and Rushaga. Before several habituated families became available in this part of the park, the Nkuringo group led the way.
Habituation began in the late 1990s. Over time, trackers and researchers carefully accustomed the family to a limited human presence. This allowed ranger-led visits while the gorillas continued to live, feed, travel and raise their young in the forest.
The family got its name from Nkuringo, the community and ridge on Bwindi’s southern side. The name later became closely associated with gorilla trekking in the area and with the lodge that grew above the forest.
Rafiki, the friend who became a silverback
One of the family’s best-known members joined the group as an outsider.
In 2003, a young blackback joined the Nkuringo family. His acceptance into an established group was unusual. He appeared calm around both the gorillas and the trackers observing them, and he was given the name Rafiki, meaning “friend” in Swahili.
Rafiki matured into a silverback and eventually became the family’s dominant male.
A dominant silverback carries a serious responsibility. He guides movement, responds to threats, manages tension within the group and protects the females and young gorillas around him.
For years, Rafiki held that position. Rangers, trackers, researchers and guides came to know his behaviour closely. Guests trekking in the Nkuringo sector met a wild gorilla, but many also returned with a sense of his individual character: steady, experienced and central to the family around him.
That ended in June 2020.
Rafiki was killed by a poacher inside Bwindi. The man convicted of killing him and committing other wildlife offences received an 11-year prison sentence.
His death was a severe loss. It also left the family facing an immediate question: who would lead them?
Rwamutwe takes the lead
After Rafiki’s death, the group’s younger males (blackbacks) remained with the family. Among them, Rwamutwe was the oldest.
“Rwamutwe became the leader because he was the oldest, yet he hadn’t developed a silver back,” Mpatswe said. “As the males became silverbacks, there was a struggle over who would lead. Two left the family. Rwamutwe remained as the dominant silverback, with Tabu as the second silverback.”
That transition was important to the existence of this family as one.
A family without an established adult silverback can face pressure from outside males, internal competition and possible separation. Rwamutwe stepped forward during an uncertain period and kept the group together.
As the younger males matured into silverbacks, competition increased. Two eventually left. Such departures form part of gorilla social life. A male may move alone, join another group or attempt to form a family of his own.
Rwamutwe stayed. Tabu stayed by his side.
Today, the two silverbacks lead a family containing six adult females and four infants. The relationship between them will continue to shape the group as the younger gorillas grow and the family moves through its forest range.
This gorilla family is closely tied to the Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge.
The Nkuringo family was already being monitored in southern Bwindi when a small campsite opened on the ridge in 2007.
That camp developed into Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge.
Gorilla trekking was bringing more visitors to the southern side of the forest. Guests needed accommodation close to the trekking area, local guidance and practical help with the realities of a Bwindi visit: early briefings, steep trails, wet weather, porters, permits and the changing location of the gorillas.
The growth of trekking in the Nkuringo sector helped shape the lodge’s early purpose.
Over time, the lodge grew, but the family remained part of its daily context. Ranger updates came up the ridge. Guides followed changes in the group. Guests returned from the forest talking about a silverback’s posture, an infant climbing over its mother, or the moment a ranger quietly signaled that the family was close.
The lodge and the gorilla family share a name because both belong to this place.
For our brand, that connection goes deeper than proximity. Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge exists because people travel to experience Bwindi under the guidance of those who know and protect it. The family helped establish the southern sector as a place where carefully managed gorilla tourism could develop.
Its history runs alongside our own.
The people living beside the forest
The Nkuringo family’s story also reaches beyond the park boundary.
Gorilla trekking supports work for rangers, trackers, porters, guides, lodge teams, drivers, farmers, craftspeople and other small businesses around Bwindi. Its value becomes visible in the people whose skills and livelihoods are connected to the forest.
This is where Gorilla Junction Foundation fits into the wider Nkuringo story.
The foundation works with communities around Bwindi through education, skills development, women and youth empowerment, enterprise support and practical environmental programmes. Its work includes training and opportunities that help people build income and stronger choices close to home.
That connection has always stayed with us along our growth journey.
The forest and the community do not exist as separate worlds. People live, farm, raise families and look for work beside the park. Tourism should create value that reaches beyond a guest’s time in Bwindi.
Gorilla Junction Foundation grew from that understanding. It gives the wider Nkuringo Eco Collection a practical way to support work around the landscape that made the lodge and our safari business possible.
The gorilla family remains at the center of that relationship. Its presence brings people to Nkuringo. The responsibility is to make sure some of the value created by those visits stays within the place.
Four infants and a family moving forward
The latest birth brings the story back to Nderema.
Somewhere under Bwindi’s canopy, she is carrying an infant that is still too young to move far from her body. Rangers will watch from a respectful distance, recording its development as the weeks pass.
The infant joins three other young gorillas in the family. They will grow under the watch of Nderema and the other adult females, with Rwamutwe and Tabu holding their positions within the group.
Their future will bring more change.
Young gorillas will begin to explore further from their mothers. Juveniles will test their strength through play. Subadults will mature. The silverbacks’ relationship may settle or shift. New births may come, and some members may eventually leave.
That is the nature of a gorilla family. It is held together through bonds, leadership and daily decisions, but it never stands still.
For Mpatswe Emmanuel and the other rangers who follow the family, the work continues each morning inside the forest. Their observations allow the rest of us to understand how the group is changing and when a new life has arrived.
For those of us at Nkuringo Eco Collection, the latest birth is a reminder of where our own story began.
Planning a gorilla trek in southern Bwindi
Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers lead all gorilla treks. Walking time, terrain and forest conditions vary according to the family’s location on the day. Gorilla permits are limited and date-specific, so it is worth confirming them before finalizing lodge and safari arrangements.
Planning time at Nkuringo Gorilla Lodge? Speak with our team about accommodation, permit timing and a well-paced stay in southern Bwindi.
