Mountain gorillas have recovered from fewer than 250 individuals to over 1,000 through intensive conservation management, but their welfare remains threatened by disease transmission from humans and habitat pressures.
Mountain gorilla welfare involves a genuine tension between the benefits of wildlife tourism that funds conservation and the disease risk that human proximity creates. COVID-19 prompted emergency protocols including mandatory masks and increased distances. Each individual gorilla in a managed population is known and monitored, allowing welfare interventions when needed.