Gorilla Youngsters Seen Dismantling Poachers' Traps—A First
"Very confident" four-year-olds outsmart hunters and protect their clan.
Wild gorillas Rwema and Dukore destroy a primitive snare in Rwanda earlier this week.
Photograph courtesy Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund
Published July 19, 2012
Just days after a poacher's snare had killed one of their own, two youngmountain gorillas worked together Tuesday to find and destroy traps in theirRwandan forest home, according to conservationists on the scene.
"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," saidVeronica Vecellio, gorilla program coordinator at the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund'sKarisoke Research Center, located in the reserve where the event took place.
"We are the largest database and observer of wild gorillas ... so I would be very surprised if somebody else has seen that," Vecellio added.
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