Gorilla Youngsters Seen Dismantling Poachers’ Traps (2012)

> "No we can't teach them," she said. "We try as much as we can to not interfere with the gorillas. We don't want to affect their natural behavior."

Tsk. Like the Prime Directive but in the real world.

Well, isn't it the natural behaviour of gorillas to learn? If they can learn by observing humans, without the humans specifically intending it, then what's so different, or unethical, if it's done with intent? I think this is just splitting of moral hairs that is missing an opportunity to help the gorillas protect themselves against poachers.

Anyway, if we left the gorillas on their own, without interfering, they'd eventually be wiped out by poachers and others.

P.S. It strikes me that the center's workers could have actually shown the gorillas how to dismantle the snares and are only pretending to be surprised at their "unprecedented" behaviour. But I'm proably just paranoid and jaded.

The problem here is that poachers could have guns, so even though gorillas are extremely strong, and a gorilla with a knife is a scary prospect close-up, a poacher with a gun wouldn't have much problem killing the gorilla.

The solution is simple: give guns to gorillas and teach them to shoot them. Now we'll have gorilla warfare...

Exactly. It's more natural to allow humans to poach them out of existence than it is to potentially equip them to protect themselves from the same?

> "If we could get more of them doing it, it would be great," he joked. Karisoke's Vecellio, though, said actively instructing the apes would be against the center's ethos. "No we can't teach them," she said. "We try as much as we can to not interfere with the gorillas. We don't want to affect their natural behavior."

I would think that the main danger is in habituating the gorillas to humans, teaching them that we're safe when we're not. It may be better if any human interaction with them is aversive but not damaging, like pepper spray.

Not software probably, but could be a plan B for Uber's "driverless" cars.