With over 24 members including 3 male gorillas and 3 Silverbacks, Susa Gorilla Group turns out to be the largest and most interesting group to track in Volcanoes National Park Rwanda. This group previously had 42 members but underwent a split that saw its number get reduced to 24 members till today.
The split that happened in 2009, saw the birth of Karisimbi gorilla family that is apparently referred to as Susa B. Nyagakangaga, a Silverback that currently heads the Karisimbi family split away with 13 members and took his family to the upper slopes of Mount Karisimbi – One of the Virunga Volcanoes. He is very protective, aggressive, ambitious and cares a lot for his family. If you are a protective kind in real life then i suggest you buy permits to trek this group because you will have a lot in common.
Susa Gorilla family was made famous by Dian Fossey, a gorilla conservationist who spend decades carrying out research on Mountain Gorillas. It was one of her most favorite groups and often carried out research more often on this group. Till today, this group has some of the oldest habituated Mountain gorillas apparently.
Susa family got named after River Susa, a river that flows around the area where it lives. The group also turns out to be one of the few groups with twins in Volcanoes National Park. It’s twins are called ‘Byishimo’ and ‘Impano’.
The fact that Susa family lives at a higher altitude makes it one of the hardest to track as well. Your fitness ought to be on point because you are bound for a good physical challenge. Locating the family isn’t easy either but the game rangers move ahead of you and locate it before so that you do not have to waste a lot of time trekking the jungles of Volcanoes.
Bonding with this family is a lifetime experience! Please note that you are granted a 1 full hour of an encounter with Susa gorilla group, a perfect opportunity for you to watch its set of twins wander around whilst eating and playing.
This group should always be your top choice when reserving your permits hence, endeavor to request for it.
