There are three main types of Gorilla; the Western Lowland Gorilla, the Eastern Lowland Gorilla, and the Mountain Gorilla.  Many people are familiar with the Mountain Gorilla through the work of Dian Fossey, while most of the gorillas found in zoos are Western Lowland gorillas. 

Eastern Lowland Gorilla

As their names might suggest, Mountain Gorillas inhabit the cloud forests of central Africa, while the lowland gorilla species are found in low lying, swampy areas near the central African coasts.  Due to factors such as deforestation and habitat loss, mineral mining, bushmeat, the pet trade, and civil war, all gorilla species are either endangered or critically endangered.

The Houston Zoo has included Mountain Gorillas in their educational lecture series this fall, so make sure to get your tickets now!  If you’re a bit more adventurous, (and by adventurous I mean dress up in a gorilla suit and run a 4K fundraiser race in London), visit one of my favorite websites, gorillas.org.  Seriously, you can never go wrong dressed up as a gorilla.