KARISIMBI

KARISIMBI

Gorilla Family

KARISIMBI

10 MEMBERS: LAST UPDATED 31/01/2024


Karisimbi group is found in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and is led by the dominant Silverback Nyagakangaga. This group was formed after the split of the main Susa group on June 28th 2009. On this day Nyagakangaga who was among several subordinate Silverbacks took 13 individuals and moved away to form his own group referred to as Susa B then. It was later named Karisimbi in 2010 at the gorilla naming ceremony – Kwita Izina. The group was named Karisimbi because; it ranges from within and around Karisimbi Mountain in Volcanoes National Park. Unfortunately, /fortunately another fraction broke away from Karisimbi on April 10th, 2012, to form Isimbi group. Today, Karisimbi group is composed of an unknown number since it has not been seen since October 2016.  However, before it crossed to DRC on October 7th, 2016, the total number of group individuals was 10 including 6 Silverbacks, 1 Adult female, 1 Blackback, 1 Sub-adult female and 1 Juvenile.

  • 5

    Silverbacks

  • 1

    Adult females

  • 2

    Blackbacks

  • 1

    Sub-adult females

  • 1

    Juveniles

  • 00

    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.