Mountain gorilla

Gorillas on volcanoes

Common Name		Mountain gorilla; Gorille de montagne (Fr); (Sp)
Scientific Name		Gorilla beringei beringei
Habitat		Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Location		Central Africa
Status		IUCN: Critically Endangered (CR C2a(ii))
Population		Approximately 700 individuals

Background

This information has been reviewed.

Around 700 mountain gorillas survive in the wild, split almost evenly between two locations: the Virunga range of volcanic mountains on the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Uganda, and in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. Some primatologists believe the Bwindi gorillas may be a separate subspecies.

In the 100 years since its discovery, this subspecies of eastern gorilla has endured uncontrolled hunting, war, disease, destruction of their forest habitat, and capture for the illegal pet trade. These factors led to a dramatic decline in numbers. Indeed, there were fears that the mountain gorilla would become extinct in the same century it was discovered.

With the alarm raised, dedicated conservation initiatives have ensured that mountain gorilla numbers are now slowly increasing.

WWF on the ground
WWF's 30 years of work to save the mountain gorilla and its forest habitat in the cloud-shrouded mountains in the very heart of Africa represents one of its longest-running flagship species programmes. Early gorilla surveys and aid to protected areas in the Albertine Rift ecoregion started in the 1970s. In 1991, the effort evolved into today's International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP), a joint initiative of the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), Fauna and Flora International (FFI), and WWF.

» Find out about the WWF African Great Apes Programme

Physical Description

The mountain gorilla has longer hair, jaws and teeth than the lowland subspecies, but slightly shorter arms. Adult males grow a patch of silver hair on their back and hips, which has earned them the name 'silverback'.

Size
Mountain gorillas are generally larger than other subspecies. On average, adult males weigh 160 kg, and adult females 98 kg.

Habitat

Major habitat type
Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests

Biogeographic realm
Afrotropical

Range States
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Uganda

Geographical Location
Central Africa

Ecological Region
Albertine Rift Montane Forest