A gorilla in a sanctuary in Congo has used stones to crack open a dry palm fruit to extract its oil. This behavior has stunned scientists and changed previous perceptions about gorillas.
For a long time, it was believed that the use of tools for tasks such as cracking hard fruits was exclusive to humans and smaller chimpanzees.
However, at the end of September, caretakers at a wildlife sanctuary in eastern Congo observed the 2.5-year-old female gorilla named Itebero using two stones to crack open a palm fruit using a technique referred to as “hammer on anvil“, recognized as one of the most complex tool-use behaviors.
“This is a truly surprising discovery“, said researcher Patrick Mehlman. He believes the findings demonstrate that complex tool use is not only found in humans and chimpanzees but may have originated earlier in the evolutionary chain.
Gottfried Hohmann, a primatologist at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, suggested that Itebero’s behavior indicates that gorillas have a greater understanding of their environment than previously thought.
Itebero has been at the sanctuary for a year after being rescued from poachers. Mehlman believes that Itebero cracked the fruit spontaneously rather than mimicking human behavior.
“The animal is really skilled at cracking hard fruits“, said Alecia Lilly, a gorilla researcher in Rwanda. “Chimpanzees take many years to reach a similar level“.
Itebero’s behavior has led some scientists to believe that wild gorillas also engage in complex tool use. Earlier this year, Thomas Breuer’s research team observed gorillas in a nearby forest in Congo using simple tools. Breuer also noted that in ten years of observation, his team had only seen two instances of tool use in gorillas – using a stick to test the depth of a pond and a branch as a bridge.
Breuer mentioned that it is challenging to compare the behaviors observed in the wild with the more complex behaviors of Itebero, who has had contact with humans. However, he believes that Itebero’s actions clearly demonstrate that gorillas are capable of using complex tools, even if they do so rarely.
“Typically, tool use is triggered by specific needs, and it seems that gorillas have fewer needs to use tools in the wild“, Breuer explained.
M.T. (according to AP)
