Like so many of their human counterparts who have become fed-up with inadequate safety and security measures, mountain gorillas in Rwanda have taken matters into their own hands, literally. It recently came to light that juvenile gorillas had been seen dismantling complicated ensnarement devices, with their bare hands.

Similar behaviour has been observed before, but only by adult gorillas and usually silverbacks at that. Snares pose a huge threat to mountain gorillas, maiming and often killing them, and the risk associated with dismantling is considerable. Just recently a juvenile ape called Ngwino succumbed to gangrene following injuries sustained from a snare.

“We knew that gorillas do this [dismantle snares] but all of the reported cases in the past were carried out by adult gorillas, mostly silverbacks.

“Today, two juveniles and one blackback worked together to deactivate two snares and how they did it demonstrated an impressive cognitive skill,” said Veronica Vecellio, gorilla program coordinator at the Karisoke Research Center.

Staff members from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, working at the Karisoke Research Center, confirmed that this was not an isolated case and that they have observed an increasing number of gorillas dismantling and destroying snares.

“Our battle to detect and destroy snares from the park is far from over, however, and the recent death of Ngwino, has given us all further motivation. Today we can proudly confirm that gorillas are doing their part too,” said Felix Ndagijimana, director of the Karisoke Center.

[Huff Post]