Chimpanzees Outwit Human Hunters

Primatologists in Guinea have observed wild chimpanzees intentionally disabling snares:

On two occasions witnessed, the chimps successfully deactivated the traps set for them.[...]

A typical snare, for example one made by the Manon people of Bossou, consists of a loop of iron wire connected by a vine rope to an arched stick, often a sapling.

The sapling puts tension into the rope and once an animal passes through the wire loop, the trap is sprung and the sapling pulls it tight, around the neck or leg of an animal.

Such traps cause indiscriminate damage, ensnaring any and all animals that come into contact with them.

But male Bossou chimps have worked out how to outwit the hunters and deactivate the traps.

"They seemed to know which parts of the snares are dangerous and which are not," Mr Ohashi told the BBC.

Link via Marginal Revolution | Image: Fox