Gorilla Facts

About the gorilla

Standing 1.25 to 1.8 m tall and weighing 68 to 227 kg (150 to 500 lb), gorillas can stretch their arms as wide as 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in). They live in troops led by a silverback and usually reach 35 to 40 years in the wild. Their DNA matches human DNA by 96 to 99%, depending on what is counted, and only bonobos and chimpanzees are closer relatives to people.

There are two species, eastern and western, and the eastern one has darker fur. Mountain gorillas live in cloud forests on the Virunga Volcanoes at 2,200 to 4,300 m, while lowland gorillas stay in dense forests and swamps down to sea level. Scientists estimate around 316,000 western gorillas and 5,000 eastern gorillas remain, and the IUCN classifies both species as Critically Endangered.

Did you know?

• The genus Gorilla includes four or five subspecies, depending on the count.
• Eastern lowland gorillas are found near Rwanda's border, inside the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• Their range is a small slice of Sub-Saharan Africa, yet gorillas live at many elevations.