Eastern lowland gorilla

Eastern lowland gorilla Temporal range: Pleistocene to recent
Silverback in Kahuzi-Biéga National Park
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Suborder:	Haplorhini
Infraorder:	Simiiformes
Family:	Hominidae
Subfamily:	Homininae
Genus:	Gorilla
Species:	G. beringei
Subspecies:	G. b. graueri
Trinomial name
Gorilla beringei graueri (Matschie, 1914)
Distribution range in green

The eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) or Grauer's gorilla is a Critically Endangered subspecies of eastern gorilla endemic to the mountainous forests of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Important populations of this gorilla live in the Kahuzi-Biega and Maiko National Parks and their adjacent forests, the Tayna Gorilla Reserve, the Usala forest and on the Itombwe Massif.

It is the largest of the four gorilla subspecies. It has a jet black coat like the mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei), although the hair is shorter on the head and body. The male's coat, like that of other gorillas, greys as the animal matures, resulting in the designation "silverback".

There are far fewer eastern lowland gorillas compared to western lowland gorillas. According to a 2004 report there were only about 5,000 eastern lowland gorillas in the wild,^[3] down to fewer than 3,800 in 2016,^[4] compared to over 100,000 western lowland gorillas. However, a survey in 2021 gave an estimate of up to 6,800 suggesting the decline was not as bad as feared although they are still facing severe threats.^[5] Outside their native range, only one female eastern lowland gorilla lives in captivity, at the Antwerp Zoo in Belgium.^[6][7]