Mountain gorillas are one of the few great apes whose population is actually growing, thanks to decades of intensive conservation — but welfare threats from disease transmission and human conflict persist.
Mountain gorilla welfare is deeply entangled with conservation: the gorilla trekking industry funds the rangers who protect them. This creates a welfare tension — tourist visits generate revenue but risk respiratory disease transmission to animals with no immunity to human pathogens. COVID-19 required complete trekking cessation; future pandemic risk management requires maintaining distance protocols that protect gorillas while sustaining the tourism revenue that keeps poachers out and rangers in the field. Snare removal teams working daily in gorilla habitat prevent the maiming and slow deaths that trap encounters cause.