In altitude the national park ranges from 2,227 to 4,127 m (7,306 to 13,540 ft) and is part of the Nile River watershed area.

[1] Primates present in the national park include mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) with around 30 individuals split between one habituated and two unhabituated groups, and golden monkey (Cercopithecus kandti), an Albertine Rift Endemic whose range is now restricted to the Virungas and one other forest in Rwanda.

[1][3] The checklist of 76 mammal species includes black-and-white colobus, leopard, African bush elephant, giant forest hog, bushpig, buffalo, Cape bushbuck, black-fronted duiker, and several varieties of rodents, bats and small predators.

[4] Of the Albertine Rift's endemic birds, the following were recorded in the national park during surveys in 2004: handsome spurfowl, dusky crimson-wing, red-throated alethe, Kivu ground thrush, Rwenzori turaco, Rwenzori batis, Rwenzori double-collared sunbird, collared apalis, mountain masked apalis, Archer's ground robin, stripe-breasted tit, blue-headed sunbird, regal sunbird, strange weaver, montane nightjar, red-faced woodland warbler and Grauer's swamp warbler.

[9] Mgahinga Gorilla National Park was established in 1991 in an area that used to be a game reserve between the 1930s and 1950, but was partly converted to crop fields in lower altitudes.