Western lowland gorillas are highly social great apes whose welfare in captivity depends critically on appropriate group composition, social stability, and the ability to express complex social behaviors across their lifespan.
Social complexity is central to gorilla welfare and the management of social group composition is one of the most critical decisions zoo facilities make. Solitary gorillas, particularly males, suffer profoundly from isolation. Even well-managed groups experience stress during introductions and transfers. Well-resourced zoos that invest in large mixed-sex groups with naturalistic habitat, consistent social management, and behavioral enrichment can maintain gorillas with reasonable welfare outcomes, though the fundamental limitations of captivity in providing the ecological scale and foraging complexity of wild habitat remain significant.