Mountain gorillas have recovered to over 1000 individuals but face ongoing welfare threats from snaring, disease, and instability in eastern Congo.
Snare injuries cause gangrene, limb loss, and death when animals cannot be treated. Human disease transmission from tourists and rangers causes respiratory illness that can be fatal. Armed conflict disrupts protection, allowing poaching and habituation loss. Gorillas habituated to tourists become stressed when tourism patterns are disrupted by instability.