Gorillas observed dismantling poachers' traps

Young Gorillas Have Learnt to Dismantle Poachers' Traps in The Wild

Quote:

Days after a poacher's trap killed a young mountain gorilla in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park in 2012, researchers spotted something remarkable: two four-year old gorillas working together to dismantle similar snares in the area. "This is absolutely the first time that we've seen juveniles doing that … I don't know of any other reports in the world of juveniles destroying snares," Veronica Vecellio from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund's Karisoke Research Centre in Rwanda told National Geographic at the time. "We are the largest database and observer of wild gorillas … so I would be very surprised if somebody else has seen that." ... Vecellio and her team were searching the park daily for these traps and dismantling them, but in 2012, one of the local trackers spotted one near the Kuryama gorilla clan, which had lost one of its juveniles to a trap just days earlier. The tracker, John Ndayambaje, went to dismantle the snare, but was given a warning signal by the dominant male of the clan to back off. "Suddenly two juveniles - Rwema, a male; and Dukore, a female; both about four years old - ran toward the trap," Than reported. "As Ndayambaje and a few tourists watched, Rwema jumped on the bent tree branch and broke it, while Dukore freed the noose." The two gorillas then reportedly found another snare, and with the help of another juvenile, managed to dismantle that one too.

This does not surprise me, honestly. We humans have been the primary selection pressure on these animals for so long - we are basically evolving them to be smarter and more able to deal with our ****.

via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/PRrksmf