It's not uncommon in the African rainforests of Guinea for chimpanzees to be caught and killed in snare traps - they're part of the diet of the people in the surrounding areas and the snares are often hidden so well that even if the intended prey isn't chimps, they get caught anyway. The chimps in Bossou, Guinea, however, are starting to fight back – and they're making progress.
According to the BBC, researcher Gaku Ohashi and Professor Tetsuro Matsuzawa of the Primate Research Institute at Kyoto University, Japan, recently witnessed a few male chimps not only successfully dismantling certain traps, but actually seeking other snares out in an attempt to dismantle those as well.
"They seemed to know which parts of the snares are dangerous and which are not," Ohashi told the BBC.
Not only is this heroic behavior pretty awesome, it illustrates a new way of learning for chimpanzees. Usually, chimps learn through trial and error, but the male chimps in Bossou often dismantled snare traps on their first attempt; a good thing, since one false move could prove deadly. While each chimp had his own way of deconstructing the simple spring-loaded traps, all of them stayed away from the truly dangerous parts.
It's unknown why the chimps in the Bossou area of Guinea have been able to outsmart their human enemies while chimps in other areas are still getting caught. Researchers think that the Bossou chimps have simply learned over time, and have passed the information down through the generations.
Comments
Leave a comment