Sabyinyo

Sabyinyo

Gorilla Family

Sabyinyo

18 MEMBERS: LAST UPDATED 22/02/2022


Sabyinyo group is found in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and is led by the dominant Silverback Gihishamwotsi. At its habituation the group was named Amavubi (wasps) due to their aggressive character which gave hard time to the habituation field teams. The name was later changed to Sabyinyo, after the mountain where the group was first seen. After the death of the Silverback Murthi of Group 13, Guhonda a lone Silverback took advantage of Murthi’s death and grabbed 3 females from Group 13 (Gukunda, Kampanga and Ijisho) and a number of others from Group 11. These are the individuals that Guhonda used to form his group with. Sabyinyo group currently consists of 18 individuals including 3 Silverbacks, 6 Adult females, 1 Sub adult, 4 Juveniles and 4 Infants.

  • 3

    Silverbacks

  • 6

    Adult females

  • 00

    Blackbacks

  • 1

    Sub-adult females

  • 4

    Juveniles

  • 4

    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.