Not long after a poacher’s trap killed a
young mountain gorilla in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, researchers
actually witnessed a couple of four year old gorillas working together
to take apart other traps in the area. Large gorillas are able to use
their strength to do this, but the younger ones aren’t.
“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. We are the largest
database and observer of wild gorillas . . . so I would be very
surprised if somebody else has seen that.” – Veronica Vecellio from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund’s Karisoke Research Centre in Rwanda
It’s sad to think that thousands of snares are set up in these areas, leaving many animals to be caught and left to die.
As Science Alert Points Out:
While adult
gorillas are large and strong enough to extract themselves, young
gorillas often are not, and if they don’t die from being stuck in the
trap, they run a very real risk of dying from injuries sustained during
their escape, such as dislocated bones and gangrenous cuts.
Here is the brief version of how the events unfolded from National Geographic:
On Tuesday tracker John Ndayambaje
spotted a trap very close to the Kuryama gorilla clan. He moved in to
deactivate the snare, but a silverback named Vubu grunted, cautioning
Ndayambaje to stay away, Vecellio said.
Suddenly two juveniles—Rwema, a male; and Dukore, a female; both about four years old—ran 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
nearby—one the tracker himself had missed—and raced for it. Joined by a
third gorilla, a teenager named Tetero, Rwema and Dukore destroyed that
trap as well.
Humans have strayed far from the teachings
of our ancestors. We once knew the importance of preserving and
respecting all living things on this planet. Now, with the rise of
today’s consumerist culture, we focus instead on acquiring material
possessions, only to discard them and acquire even more, newer versions
of these possessions. Worse still, much of what we purchase today has
its roots in child labor and animal cruelty/suffering, and all of this
is done for the sake of economic growth and globalization.
As a result, as studies have recently shown, the Earth
has entered into a mass extinction phase. Vertebrates are disappearing
at a rate 114 times faster than normal. These include mammals, birds,
reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and there are several reasons for this
decline. For example, an acre of land is cleared every second to graze
animals and grow their food crops, resulting in the loss of over
one hundred plant, animal, and insect species. Climate change,
pollution, and deforestation seem to be the main culprits.
At the rate we are going, it seems
unlikely that humans will be able to survive on this planet as close as
one hundred years from now.
This entire experience, however, has
served us in a way like no other. More and more people are starting to
become aware of what is really happening on this planet and are starting
to feel the urge to change. This is a good sign, and something that’s
desperately needed at this time. I personally feel that our planet is
actually shifting itself in the right direction, but it seems likely
that it will be a challenging, if worthwhile, process for us all.