Amahoro

Amahoro

Gorilla Family

Amahoro

21 MEMBERS: LAST UPDATED 22/02/2022

Amahoro group is found in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and is led by the dominant Silverback Gahinga. The habituation of Amahoro group started in March 1996 and stopped in 1997 due to war. The group was opened for tourism in 2000. On May 4th, 2002, the dominant Silverback Amahoro died at about 31 years of age. After his death the two subordinate Silverbacks Ubumwe and Charles could not agree on who would step in Amahoro’s leadership.  Therefore, the group split into two; the main Amahoro led by Ubumwe and another led by Charles. Charles’s group was later called Amahoro B then Umubano. Today Amahoro group is made up of 21 individuals including 3 Silverbacks, 7 Adult females, 1 Blackback, 2 Sub-adult females, 2 Juvenile and 6 Infants. Amahoro group is also under observation of a split. According to reports one Silverback has on several occasions disappeared for days with about 7 individuals but later returns to the group.

  • 3

    Silverbacks

  • 7

    Adult females

  • 1

    Blackbacks

  • 2

    Sub-adult females

  • 2

    Juveniles

  • 6

    Infants

About mountain gorillas

The eastern gorilla is a large hominid with a large head, broad chest, and long arms. It has a flat nose with large nostrils. The face, hands, feet and breast are bald. The fur is mainly black, but adult males have a silvery “saddle” on their back. When the gorilla gets older, the hair on the saddle of the back becomes white, much like the gray hair of elderly people. This is why the older males are called silverbacks. Grauer’s gorilla has a shorter, thicker, deep black fur, while the mountain gorilla has a more bluish color. The mountain gorilla is slightly smaller and lighter than Grauer’s gorilla, but still larger and heavier than the western lowland gorilla and the Cross River gorilla. Males are much larger than females. A full-grown male eastern gorilla typically weighs 140–205.5 kg (309–453 lb) and stands 1.7 m (5.6 ft) upright.

The goal of the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) is to ensure the conservation of mountain gorillas and their regional afromontane forest habitat in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Volcanoes National Park

Volcanoes National Park

In the far North Western Rwanda lives the Volcanoes National Park that protects the steep slopes of magnificent mountain ranges – home of the endangered mountain gorillas and a rich fountain of montane ecosystems, which embrace evergreen bamboo forest, open grassland and swamps. Volcanoes National Park is named after the chain of dormant volcanoes making up the Virunga Massif: Karisimbi – the highest at 4,507m, Bisoke with its verdant crater lake, Sabinyo, Gahinga and Muhabura.