Mountain gorillas are one of the few great apes whose numbers are increasing, following decades of intensive conservation effort, but welfare challenges from tourism, disease transmission, and habitat pressure remain.
Mountain gorilla welfare is shaped by the dual pressures of conservation-driven tourism and conflict-zone instability. Habituation to humans, necessary for sustainable tourism revenue, creates welfare trade-offs: gorillas lose natural fear of humans, increasing disease transmission risk and vulnerability to poaching. Respiratory disease outbreaks from tourist transmission have caused morbidity and mortality. Gorillas in conflict zones experience extreme stress from gunfire, displacement, and loss of social group members to violence, with documented PTSD-like symptoms in affected individuals.