Gorilla Species and Subspecies

Silverback males of Western gorillas (left) and Eastern gorillas (right). Above left Cross River gorilla, below left Western lowland gorilla, above right mountain gorilla, below right Grauer's gorilla (© WCS Nigeria, Wolfram Rietschel, Angela Meder, Carlos Schuler)

Experts separate two gorilla species: eastern and western gorillas. They recognize 4 subspecies. The western lowland gorilla occurs in West Africa (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), the Cross River gorillas (Gorilla gorilla diehli) at the Nigerian/Cameroonian border; the mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) lives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda on the Virunga Volcanoes and in the Bwindi forest, and Grauer's gorilla or eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.