The wildlife diversity in this massif is just awesome and next to none on the continent of Africa partly due to its proximity to the rich Albertine region. According to a comprehensive survey about the wildlife diversity in this region in 2004, it was revealed that are 258 bird species including over 20 endemics and 4 threatened species. This was discovered after surveying a total of 123.50 km of reconnaissance trails in this region.
There is a wide variety of wildlife in Virunga national park. This is evidenced by the more than 2000 plant species in the national park 15% of which are endemic to the Albertine region. The tropical rain forest has provided comfortable habitat to many wild animals in that the park is known for the big population of animals more than any other national park in the democratic republic of Congo.
There are 218 mammal species, 706 bird species, 109 reptile species and 78 amphibian species. It also serves as refuge to 22 primate species of which three are the great ape – mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei), the eastern plain gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) and the eastern chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthi), with a third of the world population of mountain gorillas all which support tourism in the national park and the country as a whole.