# Gorilla — Facts, Threats & Conservation

*Gorilla gorilla (Savage, 1847) — Western Gorilla; Gorilla beringei (Matschie, 1903) — Eastern Gorilla*

> A gorilla is the largest living primate, a ground-dwelling, mostly plant-eating great ape native to the forests of equatorial Africa. There are two Critically Endangered species — the Western and Eastern gorilla — and gorillas share roughly 98% of their DNA with humans.

**IUCN status:** Critically Endangered (both species)  ·  **WARN range:** Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda

## Quick facts
| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Scientific name | Gorilla gorilla (Western) and Gorilla beringei (Eastern) |
| Size | Standing height ~1.5–1.8 m; males much larger than females |
| Weight | Wild males ~150–200 kg; females roughly half that |
| Lifespan | ~35–40 years in the wild; can exceed 50 in human care |
| Diet | Mostly herbivorous — leaves, stems, shoots, pith, bark and fruit, with some insects |
| Habitat | Lowland rainforest, swamp forest and montane forest of equatorial Africa |
| Gestation | ~8.5 months; usually a single infant, roughly every 4 years |
| Social structure | Family groups (~5–30) led by a dominant silverback male |
| DNA shared with humans | About 98% |
| CITES | Appendix I (all gorillas) |

## Scientific classification
- **Kingdom:** Animalia
- **Phylum:** Chordata
- **Class:** Mammalia
- **Order:** Primates
- **Family:** Hominidae (great apes)
- **Genus:** Gorilla
- **Species:** 2 species: G. gorilla (Savage, 1847) and G. beringei (Matschie, 1903)

## Conservation status
- **Status:** Critically Endangered (both species: Gorilla gorilla and Gorilla beringei)
- **Population:** Western Gorilla in the hundreds of thousands but declining; Eastern Gorilla far fewer; mountain gorilla subspecies above roughly 1,000 and rising
- **Trend:** Decreasing overall (mountain gorilla subspecies increasing)
- **Assessed:** Both species assessed Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List (most recent assessments)
- **CITES:** Appendix I
- Despite an overall decreasing trend, the mountain gorilla is a rare bright spot — intensive protection has lifted it above roughly 1,000 individuals, the only gorilla population currently increasing.

## Key facts: Gorilla
- There are two gorilla species — the Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) and the Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei) — and both are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
- Gorillas are the largest living primates: a wild silverback male can weigh around 200 kg and stand about 1.7 m tall when upright.
- They share roughly 98% of their DNA with humans, making them among our closest living relatives after chimpanzees and bonobos.
- Gorillas live in stable family groups led by a dominant adult male, the silverback, and are mostly herbivorous, eating leaves, stems, shoots and fruit.
- Key threats are poaching, habitat loss, disease (including Ebola) and armed instability across their Central and East African range.
- The mountain gorilla, a subspecies of the Eastern gorilla, is a rare conservation success, with numbers rising above roughly 1,000 individuals.

## Why Are Gorillas Endangered?
Both gorilla species are Critically Endangered, and the reasons overlap. Poaching is a major pressure: gorillas are killed for bushmeat, caught in snares set for other animals, and infants are sometimes taken for the illegal trade. Habitat loss is equally serious — forests are cleared for agriculture, logging, mining and settlement, fragmenting the connected forest gorillas need. Disease is a distinctive threat for great apes: outbreaks of the Ebola virus have killed thousands of western lowland gorillas in parts of Central Africa, and because gorillas share so much of our biology, they are also vulnerable to human respiratory infections. Finally, much of the gorilla's range sits in regions affected by armed conflict and instability, which makes long-term protection and law enforcement extremely difficult. Gorillas reproduce slowly — females give birth roughly once every four years — so populations recover only gradually, and a single epidemic or surge in poaching can undo decades of gains. The combination of these pressures is why both species carry the Red List's highest threat category short of extinction in the wild.

## How Do Gorillas Live? Silverbacks and Family Life
Gorillas are deeply social, living in cohesive groups usually of around 5 to 30 members. Each group is led by a dominant mature male known as a silverback, named for the saddle of silver-grey hair that develops across his back as he matures. The silverback makes the decisions — where the group feeds, travels and rests — and defends it from rivals and predators, sometimes by an intimidating display of chest-beating, hooting and charging that is mostly bluff rather than true aggression. Groups typically include several adult females, their offspring and sometimes younger 'blackback' males. Gorillas build a fresh nest of bent branches and leaves to sleep in each night, on the ground or in low vegetation. They are intelligent and expressive: they use a range of vocalisations and gestures, show signs of grief, and some have learned elements of sign language in research settings. Despite their great strength and fearsome reputation, wild gorillas are generally shy, peaceable animals that prefer to avoid conflict.

## Western vs Eastern Gorilla: The Two Species
The two gorilla species are separated by hundreds of kilometres of the Congo Basin. The Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) lives in the lowland rainforests and swamp forests of Central Africa — including Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo and neighbouring countries. Its most numerous subspecies, the western lowland gorilla, is the gorilla most often seen in zoos. The Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei) is found further east, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and along its borders with Rwanda and Uganda, and is split into two subspecies: the eastern lowland (Grauer's) gorilla and the famous mountain gorilla. The mountain gorilla lives at high altitude in cool, misty forest and has longer, thicker fur to cope with the cold. While most gorilla populations are still falling, the mountain gorilla is a notable exception: intensive, sustained protection has lifted its numbers above roughly 1,000 individuals, the only gorilla population currently increasing.

## Where Do Gorillas Live?
Gorillas are found only in equatorial Africa, across a band of tropical forest in the centre of the continent. Western gorillas occupy the lowland and swamp forests of Central Africa, with strongholds in Gabon and the Republic of the Congo and further populations in Cameroon, the Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea. Eastern gorillas live in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and the mountainous border zone shared with Rwanda and Uganda, where the mountain gorilla clings to a few high-altitude forest patches. All gorillas depend on dense, connected forest for food and shelter, which is exactly the habitat being lost to clearance and fragmentation. Because gorillas need large areas of intact forest to thrive, protecting their habitat also safeguards countless other species — birds, forest elephants, and the plants that depend on the forest canopy — that share the same threatened landscapes.

## Western vs Eastern gorilla
| Attribute | Western Gorilla | Eastern Gorilla |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Scientific name | Gorilla gorilla | Gorilla beringei |
| Subspecies | Western lowland; Cross River | Eastern lowland (Grauer's); Mountain |
| Main range | Central Africa (Gabon, Congo, Cameroon) | DR Congo and Rwanda/Uganda borders |
| Habitat | Lowland and swamp rainforest | Lowland and high-altitude montane forest |
| IUCN status | Critically Endangered | Critically Endangered |
| Notable point | Most numerous; eats more fruit | Includes the recovering mountain gorilla |

## What WARN does
WARN supports the protection of mountain gorillas and the forests they depend on, alongside our free educational and awareness work like this guide. The same pressures that threaten gorillas — habitat loss, snaring and forest fragmentation — also affect the animals WARN protects in its partner countries, so funding forest and wildlife protection helps gorillas and their neighbours alike.

Gorillas reproduce slowly and recover even more slowly, so every protected family group matters — your support helps fund the habitat and wildlife protection that gives mountain gorillas and their forests a future.

## Frequently asked questions: Gorilla
### How much DNA do gorillas share with humans?
Gorillas share roughly 98% of their DNA with humans, making them among our closest living relatives after chimpanzees and bonobos. This genetic closeness is one reason gorillas are vulnerable to many of the same diseases we are, including respiratory infections, and why conservationists take great care to limit human contact with wild groups.

### How many gorilla species are there?
There are two species: the Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) and the Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei). Each is divided into two subspecies — the western lowland and Cross River gorillas, and the eastern lowland (Grauer's) and mountain gorillas. Both species are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

### Are gorillas dangerous to humans?
Gorillas are powerful but generally shy, peaceable animals that avoid conflict. A silverback may chest-beat, hoot and charge to defend his group, but this dramatic display is usually a bluff rather than a true attack. Most encounters end without aggression, especially when people keep a respectful distance and avoid threatening behaviour.

### What do gorillas eat?
Gorillas are mostly herbivorous. They feed largely on leaves, stems, shoots, pith and bark, with western gorillas in particular eating a good deal of fruit. They also consume small amounts of invertebrates such as ants and termites. An adult silverback can eat many kilograms of vegetation a day to fuel its large body.

### What is a silverback gorilla?
A silverback is a mature adult male gorilla, named for the saddle of silver-grey hair that develops across his back as he ages, usually from around 12 years old. The silverback is the leader of a gorilla family group: he decides where the group feeds, travels and rests, and protects it from rivals and predators.

### Why is the mountain gorilla a conservation success?
The mountain gorilla, a subspecies of the Eastern gorilla, has recovered from a few hundred animals to more than roughly 1,000 individuals thanks to decades of intensive protection, anti-poaching patrols and close monitoring. It is the only gorilla population currently increasing, while most other gorilla populations continue to decline.

## Sources
- [IUCN Red List — Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla)](https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/9404/136250858)
- [IUCN Red List — Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei)](https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/39994/115576640)
- [CITES Appendices (Gorilla spp., Appendix I)](https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php)
- [Smithsonian's National Zoo — Gorilla fact sheet](https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/western-lowland-gorilla)
- [Wikipedia — Gorilla](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorilla)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica — Gorilla](https://www.britannica.com/animal/gorilla)

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Full guide: https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/gorilla