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Eastern gorilla | Daily Animal Facts

Animal profile

Eastern gorilla

Gorilla beringei

MammaliaMontane and bamboo forest, and lowland rainforest in the east of the Congo basinCritically Endangered

Field profile

The eastern gorilla comprises two very different subspecies: the mountain gorilla of the Virunga volcanoes and Bwindi, and the much more numerous but rapidly declining Grauer's gorilla of the eastern Congo lowlands. Both live in cohesive groups around a silverback. The species is the largest living primate.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2024-08-15

Eastern gorilla

One gorilla species holds two opposite trends

Mountain gorillas are the only great ape population known to be growing, passing one thousand animals in the 2018 census. Their own species is still listed as Critically Endangered, because the other eastern gorilla subspecies has collapsed.

Read with evidence →