IGCP is funded largely from Fauna & Flora International and WWF with sources funds from a variety of donors, including bilateral agencies such as the US Agency for International Development, multilateral donors such as the World Bank and the European Union, as well as a number of foundations, such as the Arcus Foundation. Individual donors have supported the programme throughout the conflict, thus ensuring that the programme was able to continue operating at times when governments were unable to provide support, due to the politics in the region.

In the 1960s and 70s numerous attempts were made to capture live mountain gorillas and start a captive population. Many adult gorillas were killed to obtain live babies, none of which survived in captivity. The reason why they failed to survive is unclear, since lowland gorillas have been kept and even bred successfully in captivity. Perhaps their dietary needs are more specific, or they were affected by stress and therefore succumbed to disease more rapidly. To date, no mountain gorillas are known to exist in any captive facility.

Although poaching remains a serious issue, the greatest threats to mountain gorillas are habitat loss and disease (see Threats).

Mountain gorillas have longer hair and tend to be more grey than brown. Their faces are more densely covered in hair. Their family structure includes one or more mature males (silverbacks) and a group of females with or without infants and juveniles. Other gorillas have group structures with one silverback and group composition and group size changes much more frequently.

All the gorillas in zoos are lowland gorillas. Most of them are actually western lowland gorillas (see Great apes).

Many tour operators provide trips to visit the mountain gorillas in DRC, Uganda and Rwanda. Gorilla tourism exists for other gorilla subspecies as well, including Grauer’s gorillas and western lowland gorillas. Only a small number of people can visit the gorillas each day, so it is important to book gorilla permits well in advance. Visiting the gorillas can be physically strenuous, so visitors must be moderately fit and suitably equipped for walking on forested mountain trails. Find out more about where gorilla tourism takes place at www.gorillafriendly.org/locations; and don’t forget to take the Gorilla FriendlyTM Pledge before trekking.

The gorillas are not aggressive and rarely react to the visitors, let alone behave in a threatening manner. Tourists must follow strict rules in order to minimize the risk of disease transmission to gorillas and avoid causing stress to the animals (see Gorilla FriendlyTM Pledge). A twisted ankle, sustained during a heavy fall on the steep trails, is a far more likely occurrence than an injury resulting from a gorilla encounter.