Gorillas Seen Destroying Poachers’ Snares in Rwanda
Poachers’ snares pose one of the biggest threats to mountain gorilla populations according to campaigners - and it seems that the gorillas themselves have worked this out, because they’ve been observed dismantling traps.
Field staff of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund in Rwanda report that on Monday they saw several young gorillas destroying snares - which maim and often kill gorillas - with their bare hands.
“We knew that gorillas do this but all of the reported cases in the past were carried out by adult gorillas, mostly silverbacks,” said Veronica Vecellio, gorilla program coordinator at the Karisoke Research Center.