Mountain gorilla populations have increased from a low of 620 individuals to over 1,000 thanks to intensive conservation efforts — a rare wildlife recovery story with significant welfare implications.
Mountain gorilla recovery represents a conservation welfare success in which careful management has allowed a great ape population to grow rather than decline. The welfare implications extend in multiple directions: anti-poaching protection eliminates the acute welfare harm of snaring and hunting; veterinary intervention treats injuries and disease that would otherwise cause prolonged suffering; habituation allows veterinary access for ill or injured individuals without the stress of capture. Ecotourism, while imposing some disturbance welfare cost through daily human presence, funds the protection that prevents far greater welfare harms from poaching and habitat loss. The human disease transmission risk is managed through visitor health screening, mask requirements, and minimum approach distances. This integrated model demonstrates that conservation programs can achieve both population recovery and individual welfare improvement when designed with welfare explicitly in mind.