AnimalsGorillas are the largest living primates. A family group is led by a mature male called a silverback, after the grey hair on his back. In spite of their size and strength they are peaceful plant eaters.
Quick facts
- Scientific name
- Gorilla gorilla
- Group
- Mammals
- Diet
- Herbivore (eats plants)
- Lives in
- Central Africa
- Habitat
- Lowland rainforest
- A young one is called
- infant
- A group is called
- troop or band
- Conservation status
- Critically Endangered
How it is classified
Scientists sort living things into groups within groups. Reading down, each step is a smaller group, ending with the species itself.
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata
- Class Mammalia
- Order Primates
- Family Hominidae
- Genus Gorilla
- Species Gorilla gorilla
Other members of the family Hominidae on this site: Bornean orangutan, chimpanzee.
More distant relatives in the order Primates: northern plains gray langur, rhesus macaque, ring-tailed lemur.
Classification follows the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Other reference works arrange some groups differently. How classification works.
Is it in danger?
The Western gorilla is listed as Critically Endangered. The species faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. This is the last category before "extinct in the wild".
This is the IUCN Red List category as recorded in Wikidata on 11 November 2026. The IUCN Red List itself is the authority and may carry a newer assessment. What the categories mean.