There are two gorilla species, both with 2 sub species:
» eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei)
- mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei)
- eastern lowland gorilla also called grauer gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri)
» western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla)
- cross river gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli)
- western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)
The mountain gorilla lives in the mountainous border region of Uganda, Rwanda and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The eastern lowland gorilla lives in the lowland, mountain and subalpine rainforests of eastern Congo-Kinshasa, southwestern Uganda and Rwanda, in a triangle between the Lualaba River, Lake Edward and Lake Tanganyika.
The western lowland gorillas live in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Congo-Brazzaville. The cross river gorillas live near the Cross River on the border of Cameroon and Nigeria (300 kilometers away from the western lowland gorillas).
The subspecies differ in appearance, only the two western gorillas not so much. The difference between the eastern and western gorilla is huge. First, the hair colour and also the type of coat. Where the eastern gorillas mainly have black hair, the western gorillas also have some red/brown hair here and there. Especially above their heavy brow ridge (see more about that under facial expressions). But certainly not every western lowland gorilla has that. Some also have it on (parts of) their back or shoulder or neck.
Some western lowland gorillas are also grey. Not by gender and age, but by genes. I'm not talking about silverbacks, but female and some younger (both male and female) gorillas. There are grey ladies in 2 zoos I visit: Dalila in GaiaZOO and Mintha in Apenheul. Now both ladies are old (Dalila was born in 1972 and Mintha in 1974), but they already have those grey hairs some years. Mintha's young daughter (MFugaji, born 2009) also has some grey hair: sideburns and top of her back. Other gorillas also have some grey here and there (some by their sideburns).
The hair of the eastern gorillas is somewhat 'woolier' than that of the western gorilla. Especially the young mountain gorillas have a lot of curls. I think it's so special to see.
The silverbacks: there are differences between the two species. The mountain gorillas have been studied for years and most of the information is based on how they live and what they look like. It differs quite a bit with other (sub)species. This certainly applies to the leader's back. That name definitely applies to the mountain gorilla silverbacks: they have a grey band across their back. With the western (western lowland and cross river) gorilla, the silverback also has 'grey pants'.
Here is a picture showing the difference between the subspecies.
Source: gorillafoundation.nl/species/
If you see a gorilla in a zoo, it's the western lowland gorilla. Are you in Zoo Antwerp, then you'll also see one eastern lowland gorilla: Amahoro. She's the only eastern gorilla outside of Africa, after the other eastern lowland gorilla living there (Victoria, born on 9 June 1968 in Antwerp) died on 21 May 2016.
All wild gorillas are listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List. This is (among others) because human beings are destroying their habitat for several reasons. You can read about the different reasons here: gorillafoundation.nl/protection.
The most recent numbers in het wild are:
- mountain gorilla: 1004 (based on a recearch from 2018) of 1063 (as you can read in this article)
- grauer gorilla: 6800 (!!) after a new research in May 2021 (click here to read more about it); before that 3800 (2016)
- western lowland gorilla: 361.900
- cross river gorilla: 250 à 300
Everything on my website is about the western lowland gorilla, unless stated otherwise.
