Chimpanzees are known to be the closest species to humans in the animal world with well over 90 per cent of their genes being similar to ours. Little wonder that Jane Goodall, the celebrated expert on the species, said that if people came face to face with chimpanzees, they would realise “how amazing they are”. While she was referring to their life in a community and also as pets, primatologists have long been interested in ascertaining how clever they are if only because any evidence of their skill in solving a problem will show how humans used their intelligence in the long distant past.
Now, an experiment has demonstrated that the chimps are capable of cooperation, an aspect of their behaviour which was noticed in the wild during their group hunts, but which was thought to be accidental. However, to test their conduct, experimenters at the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Kenya placed 12 chimps around a sealed, transparent box with eight grapes in it. To get at them, one chimp would have to insert a thin stick through a slit at the back and rake the grapes over to a platform, which another chimp would have to tilt by using a thick stick, thus dropping the grapes within reach of all the chimps. In their findings, the researchers noted that the “chimpanzees not only coordinate different roles, but they also know which particular action the partner needs to perform” to achieve their end.
All animal lovers are aware of their affection for humans who they regard as friends, and also their anger and jealousies among themselves. From wild dogs to lions, the animals can also be seen to be cooperating while hunting. But problem-solving with a reward at the end is something which is peculiar to the primates, with chimps scoring over the apes and monkeys because of their proximity to humans in the tree of evolution.
