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Willie B., the only ape at Georgia's old Atlanta Zoo, needed playtime. Terry Maple, a psychology professor working at the zoo, thought the gorilla would enjoy playing tug-of-war. So zookeepers tossed one end of a thick rope into the gorilla's enclosure and handed the other end to a team of ten men. When the gorilla picked up the line, the men started to pull. But Willie B. stepped on the rope, and the men could not budge him!
Then the human team made a tactical error. "Gorillas don't like to make eye contact," says Maple. "So Willie B. was glancing away." Thinking he wasn't paying attention, the straining humans relaxed. Willie B. quickly lifted his foot and yanked the rope. "He was laughing on the inside," says Maple, as the men skidded and fell in a heap. Gorilla, one; men, zero!
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