Famous chimpanzee researcher, Dr Jane Goodall has just finished a speaking tour in Australia. In 1960, whilst studying chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Dr Goodall discovered that chimpanzees make and use tools- an activity long thought to be exclusive to humans. Two chimps were observed stripping the leaves off twigs and using them as tools to fish for termites in the ground. This was the first time that an animal, other than a human, was observed to modify an object to create a tool, and then use the tool for a specific purpose. Until that time, scientists had thought that only humans used and made tools. Not to be outdone by their African cousins, orangutans are also highly capable of using tools to obtain food and water, both in the wild and captivity. Orangutans have been observed to modify and use sticks as tools to obtain honey and social insects from holes in trees. They also use stick tools to remove seeds from fruits with stinging hairs. This amazing video shows a female Sumatran orangutan using a stick to dip for water in a tree hole.
Posted on: Mon, 09 Jun 2014 00:09:48 +0000
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