The Kabirizi family is named after its dominant silverback Kabirizi — one of the best-documented silverbacks in the DRC sector of Virunga National Park. Kabirizi is described in park monitoring records as a large, confident silverback whose family has maintained stability through years of difficult conditions in the park. The Kabirizi family has been one of the most consistently tracked groups in the DRC Virunga sector, with monitoring data that spans more than a decade and documents births, deaths, social changes, and the family’s response to the instability that has characterised the region.
The Silverback Kabirizi
Kabirizi’s monitoring file at Virunga NP is among the most detailed of any individual silverback in the DRC sector. His family’s stability under his leadership through multiple periods of park closure and conflict has been documented by the park’s ranger teams and the gorilla monitoring programme. He leads a family of medium to large size that has produced successful births through the difficult years and maintained the cohesion that makes habituated family encounters possible.
Current status: Verify park access before planning. Kabirizi family trekking is available only when the Mikeno sector is accessible to visitors.