Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in the context of "Mountain gorilla"

The golden monkey (Cercopithecus mitis kandti) is a subspecies of the blue monkey. It is an Old World monkey found in the Virunga volcanic mountains of Central Africa, including four national parks: Mgahinga, in south-west Uganda; Volcanoes, in north-west Rwanda; and Virunga and Kahuzi-Biéga, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. It is restricted to highland forest, especially near bamboo.

This species is similar to the blue monkey overall, but the golden monkey has golden-orange upper flanks and back.

Mount Gahinga is a dormant/extinct volcano in the Virunga Mountains on the Rwanda-Uganda border. Gahinga lies between Muhabura and Sabyinyo, but is the smallest of these three volcanoes. Mount Gahinga, also known in the local Kinyarwanda/Rufumbira dialect as "a small pile of stones", has a swampy caldera on its peak. The caldera is believed to be about 180 m (591 ft) wide. It is part of Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, a protected area that is home to different kinds of wildlife. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park got its name from this volcano. Mount Gahinga, whose elevation is 3,473 m (11,394 ft), is part of a chain of eight volcanic mountains of the Virunga Mountains. The volcano chain spans across Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The vegetation across the mountain can be described as afro-montane with bamboo composing the main vegetation. Like Muhabura and Sabyinyo, the bamboo forests on Mount Gahinga are a habitat of the endangered mountain gorilla. There are several other species of animals and birds that form part of the Mount Gahinga ecosystem. The golden monkeys are notable to these.

Mount Sabyinyo ("Sabyinyo" is derived from the Kinyarwanda word "Iryinyo", meaning "tooth"; also "Sabyinyo, Sabyinio") is an extinct volcano in eastern Africa in the Virunga Mountains. Mount Sabyinyo is the oldest volcano of the range. It is north-east of Lake Kivu, one of the African Great Lakes, and west of Lake Bunyonyi in Uganda. The summit of the mountain, at 3,669 metres (12,037 ft), marks the intersection of the borders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda, and Uganda, and holds religious significance for local tribes. It also is within the adjoining national parks established by these countries: Virunga National Park in the DRC, the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda, and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda.

The slopes of Mount Sabyinyo are a habitat for the critically endangered mountain gorilla. The mountain carries the local nickname "Old Man's Teeth," because its serrated summit resembles worn teeth in a gum line (in contrast to the perfect conical summits of the adjacent mountains in this range).

Volcanoes National Park is a national park in northwestern Rwanda. It covers 160 km (62 sq mi) of rainforest and encompasses five of the eight volcanoes in the Virunga Mountains, namely Karisimbi, Bisoke, Muhabura, Gahinga and Sabyinyo. It borders Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda. It is home to the mountain gorilla and the golden monkey, and was the base for the primatologist Dian Fossey.