Jul 16

Bonobo Starts Fires And Cooks His Own Food

This bonobo named “Kanzi” can start a fire and cook food on his own. Kanzi is a thirty-five year old bonobo (a cousin to the common chimpanzee).

He was born in captivity and is currently a resident at the Ape Cognition and Conservation Initiative in Des Moines, Iowa.  The center is focused on research and conservation projects for Great Apes Worldwide, and works with Kanzi for various behavioral studies.

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Kanzi has learned to gather twigs and branches, arrange them into a pile, light a match, and build his own fire. He then artfully puts marshmallows onto a stick and roasts them over the flames. He has also been recorded roasting hamburgers on a pan over the fire.

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Dr. Savage-Rumbaugh of ACCI said, “Kanzi makes fire because he wants to. He used to watch the film Quest For Fire when he was very young which was about early man struggling to control fire. He watched it spellbound over and over hundreds of times.”

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When he’s done with the fire, he pours water over it to extinguish the flames. Safety first! He’s more than just a chef, though. Kanzi understands 3,000 english words and can point to lexigrams, or symbols, of 500 words to communicate back to us. When Kanzi was just a baby, an American Psychologist attempted to teach his mother to communicate using a keyboard. She never quite picked it up, but Kanzi, who was usually just playing in the background, easily learned the words and symbols.

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Together with the common chimpanzee, bonobos are our closest living relatives. The species is normally found in Central Africa and is unfortunately listed on the IUCN Red List as an endangered species due to poaching.

 

 

Source: http://www.maxanimal.com/bonobo-starts-fire-and-cooks/

 

11 Responses to “Bonobo Starts Fires And Cooks His Own Food”

  1. Daniel S

    good to watch thanks, but the narrator got it wrong unless I miss under stood Kanzi lit his or her fire using matches problem solving sure, but this is not bridging a gap between our specie’s more a circus trick learnt. I wonder who taut us??

    AP3ICE** And fir5t**

  2. Martin Z

    The difference between humans and animals is the ability to decide. Animals act on instinct and humans make decisions. We light a fire because we want to and that monkey light a fire because it was taught.
    I don’t believe humans were taught to make fire. That would insinuate that we’re dumb and unable to think for ourselves. I believe humans long ago FIGURED out how to make fire.

    • Daniel S

      cheers was making a joke,…well sort of, I do know the theory’s behind how we came to manipulate fire for our convenience which may well be sound, not to shun what you have said but “theory” being the word and what it means, that what ever has been hypothesized kinda leaves things open we simply do not know for certain. Nor do we no why “humans” a tittle bestowed by our self’s figured out such processes, my joke, if I was to ask myself or anybody else including you because your input is equally valid to this question would be that we seem to be an abdominally on this planet and I can not find an answer for why we
      have “progressed” beyond other primates even to the extent of becoming pyromaniac’s, and I do find it interesting that we can teach other “less evolved” primates that evolved along separate lineages’ to do as us. this brings me to a question whilst typing this up of which I do not know has it been proven, that is that do all other species do not at times go against there instincts or that we do not follow ours, is decision making a grey area as far as our insight in to it ??? seriously would like to know.

      piece**most sincerely

  3. Jeffrey H

    Kanzi’s owner was very upset cause for some reason his Johnnie Walker Black and Cuban cigars were always missing. Every time he would replenish the stock on both they would go missing again. He was very upset by this so he setup a camcorder to find out which of his friends were robbing him. To his surprise it ended up being his best buddy Kanzi who would pour himself a Johnnie Walker neat and light up one of the Cuban cigars while sitting back in the owners favorite lazyboy recliner. Of course this would all happen while the owner would be at work! The owner thought it would be best not to bring it up to Kanzi in case he would get really upset about being caught so the owner switched to a cheaper brand of cigars and started watering down what is now Kanzi’s bottle of scotch! No harm, no foul!!

  4. Frankie P

    While it is an amazing feat, he was taught. If he had figured it out by himself, or taught another that would be impressive, but monkeys and apes are intelligent enough to be taught a lot of things, they just don’t pass it on, or figure it out themselves. An accomplishment? Yes, but being taught or copying behavior isn’t the same thing.

  5. tom b

    Mammals make decisions all day every day. And chimps do teach their young how to use sticks and tools to catch termites. Watch the Animal Planet Lots of shows about it.

  6. Irene A

    (A) As humans, we are TAUGHT certain skills, but then it’s up to us whether we LEARN to use these new skills, and thus pass them on. African chimps so use twigs to retrieve termites from mounds, and that skill is not so much taught but rather seen by the younger chimps, and they learn the skill and use it.
    (B) I’m curious to know if the staff at the research center experience any “visitors” at night. Doesn’t Iowa have several Sasquatch sightings? Also, I watch “The Yukon Vet” and “Dr. Dee, Alaska Vet.” In those remote settings, you have to wonder if the staff has ever experienced a Sasquatch sighting but keep quiet about it. Hmm…

  7. Greg T

    I was going to hassle Kanzi for being less evolved, but after reading a few posts, I realized that it was his owner that didn’t teach him to roast all around the marshmallow so you can pull off the outside crispy part and eat it, then get a second roast on the smaller inner part that’s left. When I watched this, it struck me that he looks an awful lot like a person lighting up a fire and rigging up his marshmallow stack. From his laid back approach, his eyes, and his facial expressions.

    @Irene A: i think the same thing when I watch shows like ‘the last Alaskans.’ Those folks have to have some stories.

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