Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumGorilla Youngsters Seen Dismantling Poachers' Traps--A First.
PUBLISHED JULY 18, 2012
Just days after a poacher's 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.
"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 Rwanda's 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 aren't 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.
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/07/120719-young-gorillas-juvenile-traps-snares-rwanda-science-fossey/?fbclid=IwAR2S1L9pcl3WHnEETlU-KRM1YC885qKCaNbO3VbaiI4bHN3eTcZNN93RgYQ
msongs
(67,405 posts)Bayard
(22,063 posts)Non-violent resistance. And so damn smart!
Here's another clip from the same site that is a jaw-dropper too.
Duppers
(28,120 posts)I had seen this clip before but enjoyed it again.
Some how seeing wildlife has always thrilled me, especially their voluntary interactions..
(Rather like with "my" little gray fox who plays with my Lab and follows us on our nightly walks. Knowing that he seems to be as intrigued with us as we are with him warms the cockles of my heart. And we've have known this little guy for over a year now.)
mountain grammy
(26,620 posts)Imagine how nice planet earth would be if evolution had stopped right there.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Duppers
(28,120 posts)Definitely.
Bluepinky
(2,268 posts)had that been me sitting there.
sandensea
(21,627 posts)Ligyron
(7,632 posts)That video, OMFG!
Thought you weren't suppose to show your teeth? Oh, well what do I know? I don't have any gorillas grooming me...
Bayard
(22,063 posts)This gentleman is careful not to look any of them in the eye. Taken as a threat by many species.
JudyM
(29,236 posts)Now if they can only learn how to disarm poachers guns.