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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsReal Gorilla Youngsters Seen Dismantling Poachers’ Traps
Just days after a poachers snare had killed one of their own, two young mountain gorillas worked together Tuesday to find and destroy traps in their Rwandan forest home, according to conservationists on the scene.
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This is absolutely the first time that weve vseen juveniles doing that
I dont know of any other reports in the world of juveniles destroying snares, said Veronica Vecellio, gorilla program coordinator at the Dian Fossey Gorilla Funds Karisoke 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.
Bush-meat hunters set thousands of rope-and-branch snares in Rwandas Volcanoes National Park, where the mountain gorillas live. The traps are intended for antelope and other species but sometimes capture the apes. Adults are generally strong enough to free themselves. Youngsters arent always so lucky. Just last week an ensnared infant named Ngwino, found too late by workers from Karisoke, died of snare-related wounds. Her shoulder had been dislocated during escape attempts, and gangrene had set in after the ropes cut deep into her leg. The hunters, Vecellio said, seem to have no interest in the gorillas. Even small apes, which would be relatively easy to carry away for sale, are left to die.
Rube Goldberg, Minus the Complexity
Poachers build the snares by tying a noose to a branch or a bamboo stalk, Vecellio explained. Using the rope, they pull the branch downward, bending it. They then use a bent stick or rock to hold the noose to the ground, keeping the branch tense. A sprinkling of vegetation camouflages the noose. When an animal budges the stick or rock, the branch springs upward, closing the noose around the prey. If the creature is light enough, it will actually be hoisted into the air.
More: http://whenanimalsresist.tumblr.com/post/27589321372/gorilla-youngsters-seen-dismantling-poachers-traps
xchrom
(108,903 posts)markbark
(1,557 posts)The anarchist in me wants the gorillas to start building poacher snares.
beac
(9,992 posts)That would be a level playing field.
Hunting-- the only sport where your opponent doesn't know he's playing.
Response to markbark (Reply #2)
bupkus This message was self-deleted by its author.
TeamPooka
(24,207 posts)Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)I was thinking the same thing.
Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)The younger generation shows hope.
malaise
(268,698 posts)Wonderful story
Auggie
(31,133 posts)txwhitedove
(3,926 posts)RC
(25,592 posts)Now if they would connect the poachers with their traps and deal with the poachers.
meow2u3
(24,759 posts)Suddenly two juvenilesRwema, a male; and Dukore, a female; both about four years oldran toward the trap. As Ndayambaje and a few tourists watched, Rwema jumped on the bent tree branch and broke it, while Dukore freed the noose. The pair then spied another snare nearbyone the tracker himself had missedand raced for it. Joined by a third gorilla, a teenager named Tetero, Rwema and Dukore destroyed that trap as well.
I wonder who taught those gorilla kids how to "defuse" the traps. Either the silverback taught them or they learned from watching the humans destroy the traps. Either way, those "kids" are simian geniuses.
Surya Gayatri
(15,445 posts)marsis
(301 posts)the average Teabagger and half of the members of Congress.
Zalatix
(8,994 posts)Excellent work, young apes!
HopeHoops
(47,675 posts)coalition_unwilling
(14,180 posts)I think I'm sophisticated
cos I'm living my life like a good homosapien
But all around me everybodys multiplying
Till theyre walking round like flies man
So I'm no better than the anI'mals sitting in their cages
In the zoo man
cos compared to the flowers and the birds and the trees
I am an ape man
I think I'm so educated and I'm so civilized
cos I'm a strict vegetarian
But with the over-population and inflation and starvation
And the crazy politicians
I dont feel safe in this world no more
I dont want to die in a nuclear war
I want to sail away to a distant shore
and make like an ape man
I'm an ape man, I'm an ape ape man
I'm an ape man I'm a king kong man I'm ape ape man
I'm an ape man
Cos compared to the sun that sits in the sky
Compared to the clouds as they roll by
Compared to the bugs and the spiders and flies
I am an ape man
In mans evolution he has created the cities and
The motor traffic rumble, but give me half a chance
And I'd be taking off my clothes and living in the jungle
cos the only time that I feel at ease
Is swinging up and down in a coconut tree
Oh what a life of luxury to be like an ape man
I'm an ape, I'm an ape ape man, I'm an ape man
I'm a king kong man, I'm a voo-doo man
I'm an ape man
I look out my window, but I cant see the sky
cos the air pollution is fogging up my eyes
I want to get out of this city alive
And make like an ape man
Come and love me, be my ape man girl
And we will be so happy in my ape man world
I'm an ape man, I'm an ape ape man, I'm an ape man
I'm a king kong man, I'm a voo-doo man
I'm an ape man
I'll be your tarzan, you'll be my jane
I'll keep you warm and youll keep me sane
And well sit in the trees and eat bananas all day
Just like an ape man
I'm an ape man, I'm an ape ape man, I'm an ape man
I'm a king kong man, I'm a voo-doo man
I'm an ape man.
I dont feel safe in this world no more
I dont want to die in a nuclear war
I want to sail away to a distant shore
And make like an ape man.
mzteris
(16,232 posts)they figured it out for themselves. Humans are so damned arrogant, aren't we?
I guess my question would be, "what technique DO the humans use to dismantle traps"? Does "one jump on the tree branch and break it while the other frees the noose"? Doesn't seem to me what a "human" would do exactly.
flamingdem
(39,308 posts)DCKit
(18,541 posts)Those kids seem to be a more worthwhile investment than anyone else I know.
No sarcasm tag, because I'm serious.