Besides gorilla tracking there is golden monkey tracking. This is another exciting activity tracking these primates with their unique colour. They are also endangered and they are rarely traced in other place except the Virungas.There are ten habituated gorilla families in volcanoes national park and they include;
Kirisimbi family.
This was formed from Susa family and it is sometimes called the Susa B. It established its territory up on the slopes of Kirisimbi caldera. Kirisimbi is the highest pick in this national park and so tracking this group needs a lot of hiking. It has 15 group members and tracking it needs a whole day. Guide from RDB knows where they are in advance.
Amahoro Gorilla group.
This group has 17 individuals and Amahoro is Kinyarwanda word meaning peace. So this group is so peaceful. Its silver back called Ubumwe is calm and polite. The group needs some hiking but not so tough to reach it. Since the silverback in this group is so peaceful, sometimes it loses some members to other groups like Umubano.
The Susa group.
It was biggest before it split into two with 42 members but after splitting, Susa now has 28 members with twins that are so playful. This is a group that was most studied by Dian fossey. It derived its name from the river called Susa that passes via its territory. It is among the groups that need a lot of hiking because they established their territory high in the mountains. This group contains one of the oldest habituated gorillas and it is believed some were present in the times of Dian Fossey.
Agasha (group 13).
This group is led by silver back called Agasha who took over from Nyakarima after a serious fight. At a time of habituating, this group had 13 members hence the names. But currently, the group has increased to 25 members. After Agasha taking over the group, he took it far away on top of the Volcanoes such that Nyakarima should not tress it again.
Kwitonda group.
This group also is among the difficult groups to track because it tends to range far. It is led by silver back called kwitonda which means Humble in Kinyarwanda. This group came from DRC Congo and it has 18 members.
Hirwa group.
The members of this group came from Sabyinyo and group 13. The word Hirwa means the lucky one. It has 9 members and other gorillas joined it slowly from other different groups.
Umubano group.
The members of this group were originally in the group called Amahoro but the group split after the silver back Ubumwe was defeated by Charles now the leader of Umubano group. This word means neighboring. The fight took long until when Charles went with some members. The group has 11 members.
Ugenda family.
Ugenda means moving. This group moves a lot from one place to another. Tracking it needs a lot of moving to tress it. It has 11 individuals and it is found on the slopes of kirisimbi area in Rwanda.
Bwengye family
This group is found on the slopes of Karisoke volcano and it is led by a group called Bwengye, This family sometimes back got problems by experiencing death of 6 infants. But now the group is recovering. This is the group shown in the movie gorillas in the mist. It has 11 individuals and tracking it needs a lot of hiking with steep slopes and muddy tracks.
Sabyinyo group
This is closest to the park edge with 8 members. It is led by a powerful silverback the largest of all silverbacks called Guhonda. It was named after the sabyinyo volcanoes and sabyinyo means an old man’s teeth. It is the group with few members but it is also impressive as a family.
