Gorillas are social animals staying in groups or families of 6 to 40 or more individuals. A family comprises of the Alpha male (called the silver back), subordinate males (Black backs), females, juveniles and young ones.  Each family has its own territory and a home range, where they forage for food.  Territories are aggressively or physically defended against male intruders. Territorial fights are fatal and may lead to the death of the territorial or alpha male.  Besides humans and diseases, a mature mountain gorilla has very few enemies.

Gorilla groups in Rwanda also called families are divided into two.  The study groups/ families which are accessible to scientists and the tourist groups/families which are open for tourist tracking.  The Study groups have the largest number of individuals.   Study groups include Beetsme, Pablo’s, Shida’s and Bwenge.  Besides these, there are seven (7) tourist groups-Susa, Sabyinyo, Amahoro, Kwitonda, Group 13(Agashya), Umubano and Hirwa.  Sometimes, these are joined by a migrant group from Uganda.  Most of the potential gorilla trackers have diverse questions ranging from the best time to track, the existing gorilla families, accommodation facilities, when to buy permits, tracking rules and regulations and what to bring.  We will answer most of these questions and many more on request.