fred patenaude <[log in to unmask]>:
>But they forget to
>mention that mountain gorillas are total vegans. Here is what Dr.
>Shaller says in his book "The year of the gorilla".
>...snipped...

Tom:
The reference I cited is a field study in which mountain gorillas were
observed deliberately eating ants. Abstract follows below. On a separate
note, I notice that the fruitarian fanatics used to tell us chimps were
fruitarians, and we were "just like" chimps. Now that the truth is
out that chimps are omnivores, all of a sudden the fanatics have discovered
the mountain gorilla, the latest "poster ape" of the crank science/fruitarian
fanatic crowd.

Watts, D P.
      Ant eating behavior of mountain gorillas.
      Primates, v.30, n.1, (1989): 121-126.

Abstract:
      Eleven cases of feeding on driver ants (Dorylus sp.) by mountain gorillas
      (Gorilla gorilla beringei) are described. Ant eating provides the gorillas
      with more animal protein and other nutrients per unit feeding time than do
      other forms of insectivory that contribute to their diet, but it is so
      rare that it is unlikely to be of real nutritional significance. Gorillas
      obtain ants with their hands and do not use tools. Immature individuals
      (except infants) ate more ants than did adult females, and silverbacks
      were not seen to eat ants. These differences are more likely to reflect
      differences in individual taste and interest in novelty than differences
      in nutritional strategy. Not all gorillas in the Virungas population eat
      ants. Intra-population variability may be ecologically contingent, but ant
      eating appears to be a socially acquired and transmitted taste.

fred patenaude <[log in to unmask]>:
>The basic assumption in
>the raw-food world is that everything out there in nature is perfect. I
>don't believe that. Animals can make mistake, just as we.

Tom:
Perhaps a few believe that nature is perfect, but on this list that
view has been debunked many times (along with the "apes are fruitarians"
and "humans are natural vegans" myths).

My earlier post addressed the issue of mistakes by animals.

Tom Billings
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