The eastern gorilla is more darkly coloured than the western gorilla, with the mountain gorilla being the darkest of all. The mountain gorilla also has the thickest hair.
Gorilla, genus of primates containing the largest of the apes. The gorilla is one of the closest living relatives to humans. Only the chimpanzee and the bonobo are closer. Gorillas live only in tropical forests of equatorial Africa. Most authorities recognize two species and four subspecies.
The two gorilla species—the eastern and western gorilla—live in equatorial Africa, separated by about 560 miles of Congo Basin forest. Each has a lowland and upland subspecies.
Gorillas are the largest of the great apes, but the western lowland gorilla is the smallest of the subspecies. Native to the Congo Basin, the western lowland gorilla is a quiet, peaceful and nonaggressive animal threatened by disease and poaching.