Tracking what's alive on Earth and what affects it.
Humans, now
Counted back up
Mountain gorilla
about1,063
Estimate, no range
2018
Gorilla beringei beringei
Virunga Massif (DRC, Rwanda, Uganda) and Bwindi-Sarambwe (Uganda, DRC)
Counted 2018, by the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) with the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration.
The latest figure for the mountain gorilla is about 1,063: an estimate with no range, dated 2018, from the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) with the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration.
About 1,063 mountain gorillas in 2018, against about 786 in 2010, on the International Gorilla Conservation Programme's totals.
On the wall as an animal counted back up: the International Gorilla Conservation Programme put the world total at about 786 in 2010 (orphans held at a DRC sanctuary included), under the wall's line of 1,000, and its 2018 total of about 1,063 is past that line.
How it was counted
The figure adds separate censuses together: the 2018 census of Bwindi-Sarambwe and an earlier census of the Virunga Massif, which between them cover the whole subspecies. It counts animals, not nests, and is published as an estimate without a range, so about that many.
About 1,063, not exactly: the International Gorilla Conservation Programme publishes its total for the whole subspecies as an estimate with no range.
Earlier figures
- About 786 in 2010, an estimate: the dated low. Source: International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP), update posted 7 Dec 2010.
What moves it
The International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) names the clearing and wearing down of the gorilla's forest as the main pressure, and lists poaching, snares set for other animals, disease caught from people, armed conflict, a changing climate, disturbance to the gorillas' behaviour and health, and disaffected communities nearby. IGCP reports the number as rising since the previous count.
- forest clearance and degradation. Source: International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP).
- poaching. Source: International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP).
- snares set for other animals. Source: International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP).
- disease from humans. Source: International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP).
- armed conflict. Source: International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP).
- climate change, disrupted gorilla health and behaviour, and disaffected local communities, named as further threats. Source: International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP).
Who is helping
The International Gorilla Conservation Programme (Conservation International, Fauna & Flora and WWF) works with national and local partners in Rwanda, Uganda and the DRC. It says the collaboration across those countries has won wider backing for conservation, sent more tourism income to communities beside the parks and improved how the parks are run, results it links to the gorilla's move from Critically Endangered to Endangered.
The next count
Censuses are expected every 5 to 10 years per massif. No date for the next is known as of 12 November 2026.
Sources
- International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) with the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration Last checked 12 November 2026.
- International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP), update posted 7 Dec 2010 Last checked 12 November 2026.
International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP)
- Threats Last checked 12 November 2026.
- International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) Last checked 12 November 2026.
What changed
- 12 November 2026 Added to Live Species, on the wall, counted back up: About 1,063 (Estimate, no range, 2018).
Next on the wall
The letter
The letter comes once a month, on the first Thursday. It gives what changed on Live Species, one animal up close and the humans figure for contrast.