Chimpanzee 'created weapons to hurl at zoo vistors'
A chimpanzee became so annoyed at being gawked at by tourists in a zoo that he started creating weapons to hurl at them, scientists have found.
Santino the chimp would calmly collect stones and fashion discs made out of concrete even when the zoo was closed, to throw at visitors when they returned.
Scientists believe his behaviour is the strongest proof yet that humans are not the only creatures which can make plans for the future.
Although he was clearly agitated and distressed when pitching his ammunition, the scientists found that Santino was always calm whenever collecting or crafting the stones.
This cool behaviour proves that he was not driven by his immediate circumstances or need, according to a new study in the journal Current Biology.
Born in Munich Zoo in 1978 Santino, a male chimpanzee, was transferred to Furuvik Zoo in Sweden when he was five years old.
Mathias Osvath, from Lund University in Sweden, who led the study, which followed the chimp's actions for more than a decade, said: "These observations convincingly show that our fellow apes do consider the future in a very complex way.
"It implies that they have a highly developed consciousness, including life-like mental simulations of potential events.
"They most probably have an 'inner world' like we have when reviewing past episodes of our lives or thinking of days to come.
"I would guess that they plan much of their everyday behaviour."
Although Santino was born in captivity, Mr Osvath believes that chimpanzees who still live in the wild also have the same ability to plan, it is just often more difficult to tell when their behaviour is based on a future rather than a current need.
"I think that wild chimpanzees might be even better at planning as they probably rely on it for their daily survival," he said.
"The environment in a zoo is far less complex than in a forest.
"Zoo chimps never have to encounter the dangers in the forest or live through periods of scarce food.
"Planning would prove its value in 'real life' much more than in a zoo."
Last month another group of researchers claimed that they had proof that animals could remember events and plan ahead after they found that, like humans, pigeons and baboons could tell pictures which showed similar items, including triangles or dots, and those which showed different kinds of items.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/4962769/Chimpanzee-created-weapons-to-hurl-at-zoo-vistors.html
A chimpanzee became so annoyed at being gawked at by tourists in a zoo that he started creating weapons to hurl at them, scientists have found.
Santino the chimp would calmly collect stones and fashion discs made out of concrete even when the zoo was closed, to throw at visitors when they returned.
Scientists believe his behaviour is the strongest proof yet that humans are not the only creatures which can make plans for the future.
Although he was clearly agitated and distressed when pitching his ammunition, the scientists found that Santino was always calm whenever collecting or crafting the stones.
This cool behaviour proves that he was not driven by his immediate circumstances or need, according to a new study in the journal Current Biology.
Born in Munich Zoo in 1978 Santino, a male chimpanzee, was transferred to Furuvik Zoo in Sweden when he was five years old.
Mathias Osvath, from Lund University in Sweden, who led the study, which followed the chimp's actions for more than a decade, said: "These observations convincingly show that our fellow apes do consider the future in a very complex way.
"It implies that they have a highly developed consciousness, including life-like mental simulations of potential events.
"They most probably have an 'inner world' like we have when reviewing past episodes of our lives or thinking of days to come.
"I would guess that they plan much of their everyday behaviour."
Although Santino was born in captivity, Mr Osvath believes that chimpanzees who still live in the wild also have the same ability to plan, it is just often more difficult to tell when their behaviour is based on a future rather than a current need.
"I think that wild chimpanzees might be even better at planning as they probably rely on it for their daily survival," he said.
"The environment in a zoo is far less complex than in a forest.
"Zoo chimps never have to encounter the dangers in the forest or live through periods of scarce food.
"Planning would prove its value in 'real life' much more than in a zoo."
Last month another group of researchers claimed that they had proof that animals could remember events and plan ahead after they found that, like humans, pigeons and baboons could tell pictures which showed similar items, including triangles or dots, and those which showed different kinds of items.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/4962769/Chimpanzee-created-weapons-to-hurl-at-zoo-vistors.html
