Source BBC NewsWe've been observing gorillas for 10 years here, and we have two cases of them using detached objects as tools," said Thomas Breuer, from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), who heads the study team in Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo.
"In the first case, we had a female crossing a pool; and this female has crossed this pool by using a detached stick and testing the water depth, and trying to use it as a walking stick," he told the BBC.
The second case saw another female gorilla pick up the trunk of a dead shrub and use it to lean on while dredging for food in a swamp. She then placed the trunk down on the swampy ground and used it as a bridge.
"What's fascinating about these observations is the similarity between what these creatures have done, and what we do in the context of crossing a pond," observed Dr Breuer.
"The most astonishing thing is that we have observed them using tools not for obtaining food, but for postural support."
To me these observations indicate a level of abstract thinking that has an uncanny resemblance to our own. It would seem to me to overlap many of the "unique properties" ascribed by biblical literalists to us humans. I think this news provides a welcome boost to those of us who would like to see recognition that humans aren't as special as some would like to think.
Is there anyone here who would interpret these findings in a different light?
