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or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts at IntoHistory.com. It's December 31st, 1977, in the Verunga Mountains of Rwanda.

A poacher pushes through the thick undergrowth, hacking at leaves and branches with his machete.

He's not worried about making noise.

The animals he's after won't be able to run away even if they hear him coming.

A few days ago, the poacher passed this way and laid traps in the hope of catching some antelopes.

But he surprised at how quickly the undergrowth has covered his track since he was last here.

The poacher chops at a branch that's fallen across the path, blocking his way, and pushes it to the side.

Then, he freezes.

Squatting on the path, just a few yards ahead, is a large gorilla.

The gorilla rises off its haunches.

It doesn't move or run away.

Instead, it looks the poacher right in the eye with a

questioning, intelligent gaze. The poacher eases a gun from his shoulder moving slowly. He came

here today for antelopes, but a gorilla would be a much more valuable prize. As if sensing the danger,

the gorilla begins to roar. At the edge of his eyeline, the poacher sees the undergrowth shaking.

Other gorillas in a hidden group must be running away.

But that doesn't matter.

The poacher only needs this one animal.

The money he'll get from it will feed his family for weeks.

...