In late June 2021, a years-old picture captured the attention of Reddit users. The picture, according to posts about it, showed a gorilla dismantling a poacher's snare:
The photograph is nearly a decade old as of this writing, but the description posted in Reddit is true. It was published in 2012 by the nature and science magazine National Geographic. The caption of the photograph credits the Diann Fossey Gorilla Fund and states it was taken in Rwanda.
Citing the accounts of wildlife conservation workers with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund's Karisoke Research Center, National Geographic reported the workers encountered two young mountain gorillas that were seeking out and dismantling traps set by human hunters that were intended to catch game like antelope, but also, sadly, that occasionally trapped and killed young gorillas who aren't strong enough to free themselves like older, larger ones.
Here's how National Geographic described what happened:
On Tuesday tracker John Ndayambaje spotted a trap very close to the Kuryama gorilla clan. He moved in to deactivate the snare, but a silverback named Vubu grunted, cautioning Ndayambaje to stay away, [Diann Fossey Gorilla Fund program coordinator Veronica] Vecellio said.
Suddenly two juveniles—Rwema, a male; and Dukore, a female; both about four years old—ran toward the trap.
As Ndayambaje and a few tourists watched, Rwema jumped on the bent tree branch and broke it, while Dukore freed the noose.
The pair then spied another snare nearby—one the tracker himself had missed—and raced for it. Joined by a third gorilla, a teenager named Tetero, Rwema and Dukore destroyed that trap as well.
Sadly, the incident occurred just one week after an infant gorilla had been ensnared by a trap and died from her injuries before conservationists could find her.