The Christmas family can be trekked in the Nkuringo sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. It is led by silverback Christmas, who separated from the Nkuringo family to form his own group.
The family has 9 members. Since it split from an already habituated group, it did not go through a full habituation process. Instead, Uganda Wildlife Authority monitored the group until it was ready for tourism. The family is named after silverback Christmas, who was born on Christmas Day. Like all gorilla families, its size changes over time due to births, deaths, and members moving.
The Nkuringo family is the parent group from which the Christmas family was formed. It is known as the hardest group to trek in Bwindi because of the steep terrain. The family is named after the Nkuringo hills, where rangers first sighted it.
At the time of habituation, the Nkuringo family had 17 members. Unusually, it was led by the second youngest silverback, even though the group had four silverbacks. Most gorilla groups are usually led by the oldest silverback.
The Christmas family can be trekked in the Nkuringo sector of Bwindi. Treks begin early in the morning with a briefing at the park headquarters about the rules of gorilla trekking. The trek can last from 30 minutes to 7 hours, depending on the location of the group. Once found, visitors are allowed one hour to observe and take photos.
Mountain gorillas are a species of primates that live in the tropical rainforests of the Virunga Mountains and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. They are the world’s largest living apes and share about 98 percent of their DNA with humans.
Mountain gorillas are social animals that live in groups led by an alpha male called a silverback. The silverback controls all group activities such as feeding, movement, and nesting. He is also the only male with full access to the females.
Silverbacks are responsible for protecting the group. They will fight intruders and defend their families even if it costs them their lives. Female gorillas also defend their babies, even at the risk of death.
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