Mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei), Bwindi, Uganda.
Image: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
At a glance
- IUCN category
- EN · Endangered
- Animal group
- Mammals
- Population trend
- Increasing
- FaunaHub record reviewed
- Checked against IUCN
- Needs review — not found in IUCN's published checklist under this name (it carries species-level assessments only)Checked 2026-10-09 against IUCN's Red List export published 2026-07-28
Conservation overview
The mountain gorilla is a subspecies of the eastern gorilla living in high African forests. It is assessed as Endangered — and is one of the few great apes whose numbers have been rising.
It has longer, thicker fur than other gorillas, suited to cold mountain conditions.
Range & habitat
High forests of the Virunga volcanoes and Bwindi, in Rwanda, Uganda, and the DR Congo.
Major threats
Threats below are drawn from the authoritative sources listed on this page. For the current, complete assessment, see the IUCN Red List.
- Poaching and snares
- Disease caught from people
- Habitat loss and civil unrest
Why it matters
A rare conservation bright spot among great apes, the mountain gorilla shows how tourism revenue, anti-poaching, and health care can rebuild a population.
Sources
Sources for Mountain Gorilla
- IUCN Red List — look up Mountain Gorilla (authoritative status)
- Animal Diversity Web