Mountain and western gorillas face habitat compression and disease threats that create welfare challenges for highly intelligent and emotionally complex great apes.
Gorillas displaced from forest habitat face the psychological and physical stress of reduced territory, food insecurity, and increased human encounter. Orphaned gorillas at sanctuaries have witnessed violent trauma including maternal death and display PTSD-like symptoms requiring years of socialized rehabilitation. Respiratory disease transmitted from humans to mountain gorillas causes fatal pneumonia in immunologically naive animals whose small population size makes every death conservation-significant. The intelligence and emotional depth of gorillas means that their welfare needs are comparable in complexity to human welfare needs, requiring sophisticated understanding of individual psychological states and social relationships.