Mountain gorillas are one of conservation most remarkable success stories — the only great ape whose population is increasing. Their welfare depends on continued protection from disease, poaching, and habitat loss.
Mountain gorilla conservation success has been built on intensive protection and careful welfare management. Disease transmission from humans is a persistent welfare threat — gorillas have died from measles, respiratory syncytial virus, and other human pathogens. Research and tourism visits are managed with distance rules, health screening, and time limits to balance conservation funding with disease risk. Snare injuries are addressed through rapid veterinary intervention by teams such as the Gorilla Doctors who treat injured animals in the field. Habitat encroachment by farming communities creates resource competition and stress. The welfare of individual gorillas in these small, intensively managed populations is monitored with a level of individual-level attention rarely possible for wild animals, providing valuable welfare science data.