How Many Mountain Gorillas Are Left? Facts and Myths

What the numbers actually show

The subspecies was discovered in 1902 and then endured war, hunting, habitat destruction and disease. Numbers fell so low that the IUCN listed mountain gorillas as critically endangered. Once the count passed 800 the status improved to endangered. Today about 1,063 remain, the highest figure since conservation started, and numbers have recently been rising.

That still makes the mountain gorilla the subspecies with the smallest population of any gorilla. It is a conservation success in progress, not a lost cause.

Where the 1,063 comes from

The 1,063 estimate comes from the census of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and the neighbouring Sarambwe forest reserve carried out in 2018, with results published the following year. That survey gave the estimated global figure of known mountain gorillas in the wild. It was the highest total since conservation started.

A census on this scale takes years, so a newer figure does not exist yet. Any page promising an exact fresh count is guessing. The honest answer is that around 1,063 were counted, numbers have been rising, and the next census will update the total.

Two populations, three countries

Mountain gorillas survive in two isolated populations. One lives in the Virunga Mountains, a chain of volcanoes shared by Mgahinga in Uganda, Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Virunga National Park in Congo. The other lives only in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

Since Bwindi alone protects approximately 459 gorillas, almost half the world total, Uganda holds more than any other country. Bwindi became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 and covers 321 km2 between 1,160 m and 2,607 m above sea level. For a trekker that means Uganda offers more permits and more trailheads than anywhere else. Bwindi is reached at four trailheads: Buhoma in the north, Ruhija in the east, and Rushaga and Nkuringo in the south near Kisoro.

The two homes

The Virunga population moves across the high volcanic slopes of Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda, Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Virunga National Park in Congo. Mgahinga is Uganda's smallest national park at 33.7 km2, sitting between 2,227 m and 4,127 m.

The Bwindi population lives in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, a 321 km2 UNESCO World Heritage Site of steep rainforest between 1,160 m and 2,607 m. These cool, wet, high-altitude forests are the only place on earth where the subspecies survives.

The main threats

Habitat loss is the biggest pressure, because people need farmland around the forests. Poaching still happens, often in snares set for other animals. Human diseases are a real danger because gorillas are so closely related to us. Mining pushes into their range, and past war and civil unrest in the region has hit the populations hard.

The IUCN listed the subspecies as endangered in 2018, an improvement from critically endangered once numbers passed 800. Conservation work, ranger patrols and carefully guided tourism are what keep the trend moving the right way.

Mountain gorillas versus all gorillas

The mountain gorilla is a subspecies of the eastern gorilla, and it has the smallest population of any gorilla, split into the two groups described above. The far more numerous western lowland gorilla lives in the forests of central Africa, so the total for all gorillas is much higher. A reliable current figure for all gorillas worldwide is not stated in the sources behind this page, so we leave it out rather than repeat a worn number.

How silverbacks fit the count

Gorilla groups usually contain several females with young and one dominant adult male silverback. Some males live alone before winning a group. Because roughly 1,063 individuals live in groups built around silverbacks, the number of silverbacks is a fraction of the total, though no official separate figure is published.

Counting habituated groups and their members is exactly how the population estimates are built. Rangers and researchers know many groups by name, which is what makes the census more reliable than a guess.

Are mountain gorillas dangerous?

Wild gorillas deserve distance and respect, but the groups trekkers visit are habituated, meaning they have been slowly used to calm human presence over years. Charges are rare and rangers know how to prevent them. Males reach 1.61 to 1.71 m standing and 120 to 191 kg, females weigh 70 to 98 kg, so you keep the required distance for their safety as much as yours.

Would 100 men beat a gorilla?

This internet debate says nothing useful about real gorillas. A silverback can weigh up to 191 kg, and gorillas resolve conflicts through displays rather than fights. In the wild, no hundred men would ever face one gorilla, and the question ignores that they are a peaceful, endangered species you watch from a respectful distance, not opponents.

Is Dian Fossey still alive?

Dian Fossey was murdered in Rwanda and her death is not stated in detail in the sources behind this page, so we give only the facts we can confirm: she was the researcher who made mountain gorillas famous, and she is not alive. Her long-term research in the Virunga Mountains helped lay the groundwork for the counts that produced the 1,063 figure.

Do gorillas engage in homosexuality?

Mountain gorilla groups are built around one dominant silverback with several females, according to the sources behind this page. Claims about same-sex behaviour in gorillas are not stated in those sources, so we make no claim either way.

Life in the forest

Mountain gorillas spend their days feeding on the vegetation of their high-altitude forests. A precise list of foods and a confirmed lifespan are not stated in the sources behind this page. What matters for the population story is simpler: they need large, healthy, protected forests, which is exactly what habitat loss threatens.

Protecting the forest protects the gorillas.

How a trek supports the population

Ecotourism, including carefully guided trips to see gorillas, is an important source of income for local people. Park entry for Bwindi and Mgahinga costs US$40 a day for foreign non-residents, according to the Uganda Wildlife Authority, and that fee is already included in the gorilla permit on the tracking day. Permit revenue funds rangers and research, and community income gives people near the parks a stake in keeping the forest standing.

If you want to see the result yourself, a trek in Bwindi puts you among roughly half the world's mountain gorillas. The 2-day Uganda gorilla trek from Kigali with permit included is a fast way to do it, and the 3-day Bwindi trek with the Batwa Trail and Lake Bunyonyi adds the human side of the story.