Apes and monkeys are far more intelligent, adaptable, and surprising than many people realize. From tool use and sign language to strange social behaviors and remarkable true stories, these facts reveal just how fascinating our closest animal relatives can be.
Macaques Outperform Humans At Harvest
1. In Thailand, pigtailed macaques are trained to harvest coconuts. Male macaques can collect up to 1,600 coconuts in a single day, while their human handlers can only harvest about 80.
2. A 2005 study taught capuchin monkeys the value of money using small silver coins. During the experiment, a monkey was observed trading a coin for sex, and the monkey who received the coin promptly traded it for a grape.
3. An orangutan named Chantek was raised as a human, attended college, and eventually described himself as an “orangutan person”.
4. Capuchin monkeys reject fruit from researchers if they consider it to be inferior to the fruit being received by their peers.
5. Japanese macaques wash their food in saltwater before eating to both clean it and enhance its taste. They also make snowballs for fun.
6. 66% of orangutans favor using their left hand.
7. A chimp called Nim Chimpsky used sign language to indicate he wanted to smoke marijuana.
8. In the 1980s a tuberculosis outbreak struck a baboon troop and killed all of its aggressive alpha males; the remaining passive males, who had been bullied by those previous alpha males, converted the troop from an aggressive, violent group into a peaceful one, a change that had not been observed before.
9. At the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska, an orangutan named Fu Manchu repeatedly escaped from his cage after learning to pick locks with a key he had fashioned from a piece of wire. Each time his zookeepers inspected him he hid the key in his mouth. He was made an honorary member of the American Association of Locksmiths.
10. A monkey found in 2010 was called the Burmese sneezing monkey because it sneezes uncontrollably whenever it rains.
Gorilla Maturity And Rank Names
11. A male gorilla develops his “Silverback” at around twelve years old. Younger subordinate males in a troop are known as “blackbacks”.
12. A wild monkey in Thailand was nicknamed Uncle Fat after gorging on junk food and soda left behind by tourists and becoming morbidly obese. He had to be put on a strict diet. At 26Kg, he was 3 times heavier than the average macaque.
13. A gorilla named Shabani is famous in Japan for his handsome appearance.
14. In the late 1800s, a baboon called Jack worked for the railroad as a signalman. He never made a mistake and remained employed by the railroad until he died.
15. If the dominant male of a gorilla troop dies or is killed, the troop will split up and seek new groups to join. However, if a younger male challenges and defeats the leader, he becomes the new leader and the troop remains together.
16. Washoe the chimp, the first non-human taught sign language, became self-aware while looking into a mirror. When she was first introduced to other chimpanzees she appeared to suffer an identity crisis, seeming shocked to discover she was not human.
17. NBC aired a show called Mr. Smith whose entire premise was that an orangutan served as a political advisor. The series was canceled after thirteen episodes were broadcast.
18. In 2007, thirty-five policemen armed with AK47s were needed to rescue a shaved orangutan named Pony who was being used as a sex slave in a Borneo brothel.
19. In 2007 a gorilla named Bokito escaped from his exhibit, grabbed and mauled a nearby woman, and then attacked a restaurant. It was later revealed that a woman who had made eye contact and smiled at him several times a week, despite zookeepers warning her not to, was the reason behind the rampage.
20. In the 1970’s, a chimp named Nim Chimpsky was raised by a human family and taught sign language to challenge Noam Chomsky’s theory that only humans have language. Nim’s longest sentence was “Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you.”
Kanzi’s Movie Preferences Revealed
21. Researchers working with Kanzi, a bonobo who communicates via a symbol keypad, say his favorite films are those that blur the line between humans and apes, for example Planet of the Apes and Quest for Fire.
22. A gorilla named Michael learned sign language and at one point used it to describe what it felt like to watch poachers kill his mother.
23. An extinct ape genus, Gigantopithecus blacki, reached nearly 3 meters (about 10 feet) in height, weighed up to 540 kg, and actually lived alongside humans for tens of thousands of years.
24. The English village of Uley adopted a lowland gorilla captured in Gabon after French poachers shot his parents. Named John Daniel, he was raised like a boy, made his own bed, played with children, and drank tea.
25. Orangutans can learn sign language and modify it to better reflect their understanding. One orangutan, Chantek, even called an orangutan he had never met “orange dog” and referred to his contact lens solution as “eye-drink”.
Add Comment