Ruhondeza was the silverback who led the Mubare gorilla family, the first group habituated for gorilla trekking in Uganda, and he died of old age on 27 June 2012 at an estimated 50 years or more. Trekkers still visit his former family from Buhoma. His story is the story of how gorilla tourism in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park began, and why the communities around the forest came to treat a wild ape as a neighbour.
Who Ruhondeza Was: the Silverback Behind Uganda’s First Gorilla Trekking Family
Every gorilla trekking safari in Uganda traces back to one group of gorillas and one male. When the Uganda Wildlife Authority and its research partners went looking for a family that could tolerate daily human visits, the group they settled on near Buhoma was led by a large, calm silverback gorilla the trackers named Ruhondeza.
The name stuck because it fitted. He slept a lot. Trackers and early visitors described him as unhurried and mild, a leader who settled disputes by sitting in the middle of them rather than charging. Some doubted that such a placid male could hold a family of more than a dozen gorillas together against rival silverbacks, yet he kept Mubare intact for about two decades.
Mild with his own family, he was anything but mild with rivals. IGCP’s history of the group describes Mubare as a one male family with a strong intolerance of other adult males, and records that Ruhondeza killed young rival males. That only stopped when age slowed him enough for some mothers to shield their sons. Just two of his sons survived to adulthood, Kanyonyi and Muyambi, and both would matter later. Trackers have long linked that habit to the trouble at the end of his reign: with no grown male trained up beside him, nobody stood between an ageing leader and the bachelors circling his females.
He was estimated to be somewhere around 28 to 32 years old when habituation started, so he was already a mature silverback in his prime. That makes his age at death, a little over 50, unusual. Wild mountain gorillas usually live about 35 to 40 years, and the silverback facts guide explains why so few males reach old age in charge of a family.
Habituating the Mubare Family for Gorilla Tourism in Buhoma
The family takes its name from the Mubare Hills, where trackers first located it. Habituation, the slow process of getting wild gorillas used to people without changing their behaviour, began in 1991. Rangers visited the group daily for about two years, at first watching from a distance, then moving a little closer as the gorillas stopped fleeing or charging.
In 1993 Bwindi was opened to gorilla trekking tours, and Mubare became the first habituated family in Uganda to receive paying visitors. The figures given for its size at the time vary with who counted and when. A history of Bwindi’s habituated groups published by the Berggorilla and Regenwald Direkthilfe Gorilla Journal records 13 gorillas at the start, while Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka of Conservation Through Public Health put the family at 17 when tourism began, and tour operator pages often say 18. All agree it was a large, stable group under one silverback.
That stability is what made the experiment work. Trekking fees from Mubare paid for ranger patrols, research and, through revenue sharing, schools and clinics in the parishes around the forest. Other families followed: Habinyanja and Rushegura in Buhoma, then groups in Ruhija, Rushaga and Nkuringo. The full list is on our Bwindi gorilla groups page.
Ruhondeza’s Years Leading Mubare Gorilla Trekking Groups
For close to 20 years, visitors on a Mubare gorilla trek spent their hour with Ruhondeza and his family in the hills above Buhoma. Rough estimates repeated in Ugandan media suggest tens of thousands of tourists saw him over his lifetime, a number no other single gorilla in Uganda comes near.
Gorilla families change constantly. Young males grow up and leave, females transfer to other groups, infants are born and some die. Under Ruhondeza, Mubare followed that pattern, with several young males drifting off over the years. Without a strong second silverback, the family became vulnerable as he aged. Rival males from wild, unhabituated groups started to test him, and some of his females left during these interactions. Our gorilla breeding guide explains how mating and births shape these families.
The year 2009 was a bad one. Mubare lost three members: an adult female died of a skull fracture, her six month old infant died soon after and was found in Ruhondeza’s own night nest, and another female lost a baby in July. Around the same time, accounts from Buhoma name a younger lone silverback, called Makara or Makare and linked to the Katendegyere group, as the male who drew some of Ruhondeza’s females away. Those details come from tour and park reports of the period rather than a published study, so the exact number of females lost varies from telling to telling.
By early 2012 the family had shrunk to around five gorillas. An old silverback with few adult males beside him has little defence against a younger challenger.
Losing the Group: Ruhondeza’s Final Months on Community Land
In March 2012 a wild silverback attacked Mubare and took over its remaining females. Ruhondeza, by then too old to fight back, was left on his own. He did something lone silverbacks rarely do and walked out of the national park onto farmland nearby, settling on community land around the villages near Buhoma. Reports from the time name Rubona and Kyumbugushu.
That could have gone badly. Gorillas that raid crops are often chased, and a 200 kilogram male in a banana garden is not easy to ignore. UWA asked Conservation Through Public Health to look at whether he could be moved back into the forest. After talking with the local Village Health and Conservation Teams, the decision was to let him stay, since he would probably have walked straight back out again.
The community agreed to tolerate him. He ate banana stems and the odd coffee berry, and the farmers let it pass. Residents explained it in terms of their own elders: when an old person grows weak, the family looks after them, and Ruhondeza had earned the same care through the trekking revenue his family had brought to the area for two decades. Volunteers, rangers and trackers followed him every day. A few weeks before he died, the CTPH team found him active but shy, wanting to be left alone.
Ruhondeza’s Death and Grave at the Buhoma Gorilla Trekking Headquarters
Rangers found Ruhondeza dead early on the morning of 27 June 2012. He had died in his sleep. Preliminary post mortem findings pointed to old age, and Dr Kalema-Zikusoka, a former UWA veterinary officer, wrote that his death was not caused by poaching or by disease picked up from people. Uganda Wildlife Authority announced the death with real sadness, since he stood for the beginning of protected great ape tourism in the country.
He was buried close to the park offices and visitor information centre at Buhoma, near the start of the trekking trails. Hundreds of local people attended, and in the following days Bwindi residents kept coming to pay their respects at the grave. Plans were announced for a monument at the site that would tell his story, and UWA’s Friend a Gorilla initiative began collecting stories about his life for it. If you trek from Buhoma, ask the rangers at the briefing to point out the grave; it sits a few minutes from where trekkers gather.
When Did Ruhondeza Die? Checking the Date
Search for Ruhondeza and you will find his death placed in 2012, 2013 and even 2020. Only 2012 holds up. Dr Kalema-Zikusoka’s tribute on the Whitley Fund for Nature website, published on 29 June 2012, gives 27 June. The Berggorilla history of Bwindi’s habituated groups, written in 2014 by researchers Peter Kabano, Joseph Arinaitwe and Martha Robbins, also records his death in 2012. This page itself first reported the news in early July 2012.
The small disagreement is between 27 and 28 June. Some reports from that week, including the first version of this article, gave 28 June, which is likely the day the news went out. The CTPH account from people who were following him daily gives 27 June, and we use that. The 2013 and 2020 dates on various tour pages have no support in any contemporary source.
The Mubare Family After Ruhondeza: Kanyonyi, Maraya and Today’s Trekking Group
Ruhondeza’s son Kanyonyi took over. Even before his father died, Kanyonyi had won back the group’s members from the wild male and drawn in an adult female from the Rushegura family, bringing Mubare back to about seven gorillas. Over the next five years he rebuilt it, and the family reopened fully to Buhoma gorilla trekking visits.
Kanyonyi’s own end was hard. In September 2017 he fell from a tall tree and hurt his hip, and Gorilla Doctors treated him in the field. A lone silverback called Maraya, who had left the Habinyanja group as a young male, attacked him while he was weak, and in November 2017, according to IGCP’s family record, Maraya fought and killed him. Some reports from the time give a December date and describe a post mortem that found old hip fractures and a serious infection, so the injuries and the fights together brought him down. After his death most of the group dispersed and Maraya took over, killing infants in the process, which is grim but normal behaviour for a male taking a new family.
The scattering reshaped Buhoma. Gorillas that left Mubare during that period went on to form the Katwe family in 2018, now trekked from the same sector. In 2019 Ruhondeza’s other surviving son, the silverback Muyambi, broke away with four adult females and started a family of his own, which IGCP lists at seven gorillas. So two of today’s Buhoma trekking groups trace back, one way or another, to Ruhondeza’s line.
The International Gorilla Conservation Programme’s family profile, last updated in January 2024, lists Mubare at seven gorillas under Maraya: one silverback, three adult females, one juvenile and two infants. Numbers change with every birth and transfer, so treat any count as a snapshot. Our Mubare family guide covers the group as it is now.
Ruhondeza’s Legacy for Gorilla Tourism and Bwindi Communities
Ruhondeza’s real legacy is the model he helped prove: that a habituated gorilla family could pay for its own protection and bring money to the people living beside the forest. Uganda now has many trekking families across Bwindi and Mgahinga, and Bwindi’s 2018 census counted 459 mountain gorillas out of a world total of 1,063.
He is remembered in smaller, more personal ways too. Conservation Through Public Health named the first blend of its Gorilla Conservation Coffee after him, grown by farmers around Bwindi. A Ruhondeza village walk and other community experiences near Buhoma carry his name, and a lodge and campsite in Buhoma is named after him as well. In 2025 two gorilla sculptures honouring him, under the title “The Gentle Giant of Bwindi”, were placed in the arrivals and departures halls of Entebbe International Airport, so many visitors now meet his story before they reach the forest.
At the time of his death UWA credited him with helping grow gorilla ecotourism in Uganda, and park staff tied the income from his family to community projects around Buhoma, among them the Buhoma Mukono community association that runs the Buhoma community bandas and the community hospital beside the park.
The tolerance shown to him in his last months still comes up when rangers and community guides talk about human and gorilla conflict. It is one of the clearer examples of what revenue sharing and community health work can change.
Ruhondeza Lodge and Campsite: a Buhoma Gorilla Trekking Base Named After Him
Search for his name today and much of what comes back is a place to stay. Ruhondeza Lodge and Campsite sits in Buhoma, close to Bwindi Community Hospital, the same small village where he spent his last months and where he is buried. It is a common base for a Buhoma gorilla trekking trip, and the closest airstrip for travellers who fly in is Kihihi.
The lodge offers cottages with private bathrooms plus a campsite for travellers on a tighter budget, and it promotes nature walks and gorilla trekking in Bwindi. One of its cottages is called Kanyonyi, the name of his son. The lodge is a private business, not a memorial run by the park, and nothing about staying there changes which gorilla family you are assigned on trekking day. If you want to see his grave, the rangers at the Buhoma briefing point can show you, wherever you sleep.
Buhoma has plenty of alternatives at every level, from the Buhoma Homestead to the Buhoma Haven Lodge, and the full list sits on our lodges page linked below. We do not take bookings for any of them; rates and availability come from the lodge or from your safari operator.
Trekking the Mubare Family and Visiting Buhoma Today
You can still trek Ruhondeza’s family. Mubare is one of the groups visited from Buhoma, the oldest trekking sector of Bwindi, with the park office, the grave and the trailheads all close together. A Buhoma gorilla trekking day starts with a 7:30 am briefing, after which groups of up to eight visitors set off with rangers and trackers. Treks to Mubare can be short or can run for several hours depending on where the family slept, and the hills above Buhoma are steep and muddy after rain. Once you reach the gorillas you get one hour with them, keeping about 10 metres back as UWA requires.
UWA allocates families on the morning of the trek, so you cannot guarantee Mubare, though rangers often try to match fitness and requests. Permits need to be booked well ahead, especially for June to September and December to February; see our gorilla permit guide for how booking works. For the bigger picture of a trek, read the Bwindi gorilla trekking guide and the gorilla trekking packing list.
Buhoma has accommodation at every level, from the community bandas to the CTPH Gorilla Conservation Camp, whose revenue supports the same health work that looked after Ruhondeza; the full range is on our Bwindi lodges page. Most visitors reach Buhoma by road via Queen Elizabeth National Park or fly to Kihihi; getting to Bwindi sets out the routes. A three day gorilla trekking safari is the shortest practical trip, and plenty of travellers add the Masai Mara or the Serengeti afterwards for a longer East Africa safari.
Ruhondeza and Mubare Gorilla Trekking FAQ
When did Ruhondeza the gorilla die?
Ruhondeza died in his sleep on 27 June 2012, on community land just outside Bwindi near Buhoma. Some reports from that week give 28 June. Dates of 2013 or 2020 found on some websites are wrong.
How old was Ruhondeza when he died?
He was estimated to be over 50. He was thought to be about 28 to 32 when habituation of the Mubare family began in 1991, which made him one of the oldest wild mountain gorillas on record in Uganda.
What does the name Ruhondeza mean?
It comes from Rukiga, the language spoken around Bwindi, and is usually translated as “the sleepy one” or “sleepy fellow”. Trackers chose it because he spent so much time resting.
Where is Ruhondeza buried, and can I visit the grave?
He was buried beside the park offices and visitor centre at Buhoma, near where trekkers gather for the morning briefing. Ask the rangers to show you; it is a short walk from the briefing area.
Who leads the Mubare family now?
The silverback Maraya has led Mubare since he killed Kanyonyi, Ruhondeza’s son, in November 2017. IGCP’s January 2024 profile lists seven members. See our Mubare family page for the latest details.
Is Ruhondeza Lodge named after the gorilla?
The lodge shares his name and sits in Buhoma, the village where he lived out his last months and was buried, and one of its cottages is called Kanyonyi, the name of his son. It is a private lodge with cottages and a campsite, not a park site, so ask the rangers rather than the lodge if you want to visit the grave.
How long do silverback gorillas live, and how unusual was Ruhondeza?
Wild mountain gorillas usually live about 35 to 40 years. Ruhondeza was thought to be over 50, and he led his family for about two decades, far longer than most silverbacks hold a group before a younger male takes over.
Did Ruhondeza have any sons?
Yes. Only two survived to adulthood: Kanyonyi, who led Mubare after him until 2017, and Muyambi, who left in 2019 with four adult females to found the Muyambi family that is now trekked from Buhoma.
How much does it cost to trek the Mubare gorilla family?
Mubare is trekked on a standard Uganda gorilla permit: US$800 for foreign nonresidents, US$700 for foreign residents and UGX 300,000 for East African citizens. UWA has announced a US$600 rate for foreign nonresidents in April, May and November, and those low season permits cannot be rescheduled.
Can I choose to trek Mubare on my gorilla safari?
Not with certainty. Your permit is for a sector, here Buhoma, and rangers assign families on the morning of the trek. You can ask for Mubare at the briefing, and fitness is usually taken into account.
Is the Mubare gorilla trek hard?
It varies daily. Some days the family is close to the trailhead, others it means several hours of steep, muddy climbing. A porter and a walking stick help, and good boots and gardening gloves for the nettles make a real difference.
