Animal Intelligence Words: Jamie Christian Desplaces
Last year the results of a study of 14 chimpanzees at Japan’s Kyoto Primate Research Institute showed apes’ recall to be superior to most humans’. A 12-year-old chimp by the name of Ayumu displayed a photographic memory that, according to the study’s lead, Professor Testuro Matsuzawa, was equalled by only one person in several thousand. He told the Toronto Star that the reason was that the animals live only in the present, their minds uncluttered by thoughts of the past events or worries about the future. Another study by the same institute found chimpanzees are also better than us at game theory and tactics. As our closest – and often cutest – living relative, chimps have long fascinated humans. Often displaying similar behaviour and even facial expressions, the animals can make and use tools, are both sociable and violent and show signs of both empathy and self-awareness. In 1966, a ten-month-old chimpanzee named Washoe was adopted by cognitive researchers R. Allen Gardner and Beatrix T. Gardner. Aged five, she became the first non-
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human primate to learn American Sign Language, eventually mastering in the region of 350 words. Washoe even taught her adopted son, Loulis, how to sign also. Inspired by Washoe’s story, in 1973, a baby chimpanzee named Nim, was sent from Oklahoma’s Institute for Primate Studies to live with the LaFarge family in New York to be raised as a human. Nim was even breastfed by 'mother' Stephanie, and bonded strongly with her, showing signs of jealously when her husband approached. Nim, too, learned hundreds of signs, though with age and maturity came aggressive tendencies. After being moved to Columbia University, Nim attacked several trainers and he was moved back to the Institute for Primate Studies where he became withdrawn and depressed. He was confused at the sight of the other apes, and became excited only by visits from old human friends. He eventually settled, learnt more signing, only to be sold on to a research centre in New York, where he was subjected to animal tests. Workers reported of his attempts to communicate through sign. Nim spent his final decade at a ranch in Texas operated by an animal rights group, and though a vast improvement, he lived mainly in isolation. His behaviour deteriorated. He killed a dog in a fit of frustrated rage and when Stephanie LaFarge visited, Nim violently assaulted her. He died in 2000 aged just 26 from a heart attack. Bob Ingersoll, Nim’s former friend and handler, told ABC News that, “it might actually be fair to say he died of a broken heart”.