Gorillas Use Tools

Gorillas Use Tools

For the first time, scientists have observed gorillas using tools in a forest in Congo. The gorillas used sticks to test the depth of water and to cross swampy areas.

Chimpanzees are also known to use tools, suggesting that the origins of tool use may predate the evolutionary split between apes and humans.

Thomas Breuer, from the Wildlife Conservation Society and leader of the research team in Congo, said: “We have been observing gorillas here for 10 years and have seen two instances of tool use.”

“In the first case, a female gorilla was crossing a pond and used a stick to test the depth of the water and as a walking stick for support.”

“In the second case, another female gorilla used a tree trunk for support while foraging in a swamp. She then placed the trunk across the swamp and used it as a bridge.”

“The most surprising part was that we observed them using tools not for food acquisition but for physical support,” Breuer noted.

Current scientific consensus suggests that the evolutionary split between chimpanzees and humans occurred about six million years ago.

This study was published in the journal Public Library of Science Biology.