West Australian scientists have discovered why gorillas in Rwanda wander out of their natural park refuge and put themselves in risky situations.
Gorillas in the Virunga Mountains have long been observed leaving the park and going to community land to gorge on eucalyptus bark, resulting in conflict between the critically endangered apes and humans.
They also sometimes climb to the top of volcanoes to eat the introduced trees, putting them at risk of hypothermia.
It turns out they do it to satisfy the need for salt in their diet.
Lead researcher Cyril Grueter from the University of WA said eucalypts were more than 100 times richer in sodium than the gorillas' staples inside their park.
"The gorillas obtain up to two-thirds of their sodium when consuming eucalypts," Dr Grueter said.
"A sodium deficit can trigger a specific hunger for it, which causes animals to do all sorts of crazy things to get it."
To discourage the gorillas from crossing into farmlands near the forest, agricultural practices may need to change, including using plants that are nutritionally unattractive to the gorillas, the scientists say.
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