Primates
There's this thing about Jane Goodall at the Maryland Science Center for the next few weeks, so I'm thinking about going to see that. It's located right on the harbor, which will be a nice sight to see as well. Plus, I do like to travel on the metro and walk the rest of the way to the harbor.
I was able to relax some today while reading my book on bonobos. They have taught Kanzi, a bonobo at the Language Research Center of Georgia State University in Atlanta, how to use sign language as well as ways to elaborate and refine their language skills and cognitive skills. In one such exercise, the apes use a computer game to put three puzzle pieces together. Once they do this, they are presented with four pieces, and the fourth is a piece from a different portrait. The first time this was done with Kanzi, he kept trying to put the piece of a bunny's face together with a piece of the researcher's face. Since he understands language, she said to him: "Kanzi, we're not making the bunny, put Sue's face together." As soon as he heard this, he stopped making the bunny, and stuck to the correct puzzle pieces. One more exerice is where words are said for Kanzi to pick up the picture matching the word. They seem to understand our language to some degree. The researcher even told him to give the dog a shot, then he picked up a hypodermic syringe from among many objects on the floor, tore off the cap, and injected his stuffed toy dog. They also use lexigrams to show to the apes, who then point to the lexigram marked as what they want to do, eat, or play with. Another bonobo at the facility, Panbanisha, tends to point to her favorite foods located on the lexigram chart. When the food is brought to her, the others would vocalize because they wanted the same things. Panbanisha seemed to realize this and began gesturing to the others everytime her snacks would be brought to her. The researcher would then ask: "Do you want me to give this to Kanzi, or Tamuli?" She would then wave an arm in their direction, while vocalizing at Kanzi or Tamuli, who would respond with their own calls. It's really quite amazing how they all interact with one another and with people as well.
At the Twycross Zoo in England, Kuni captured a starling. It was feared that she might hurt the stunned bird, so the keeper urged Kuni to let the bird go. The ape took the bird outside and gently set it onto its feet, the right way up, where it stayed, looking petrified. When it didn't move, Kuni threw it a little way, but it just fluttered. Not satisfied, Kuni picked up the starling with one hand and climbed to the highest point of the highest tree, where she wrapped her legs around the trunk, so that she had both hands free to hold the bird. She then carefully unfolded its wings and spread them wide open, one wing in each hand, before throwing the bird as hard she could towards the barrier of the enclosure. Unfortunately, it fell short and landed onto the moat, where Kuni guarded it for a long time against a curious juvenile. The bird eventually flew off.
One researcher was studing some bonobos in the San Diego Zoo where she had given them hearts of celery, which were claimed by the females. The researcher gestured to have the apes look her way for a photograph, to which she was ignored by one female who thought she was begging for food. After ten minutes, the female bonobo suddenly stood up, divided her celery, and threw half of it across the moat to the researcher. On another visit, the researcher brought her infant child with her to show to the bonobos. The dominant female briefly glanced at the baby, then suddenly disappeared into an adjacent room to return with her own newborn.
Other occurances happened when a bonobo with a heart condition was protected and guided through hand holding by the dominant male when he would get upset or disoriented at the Milwaukee County Zoo. In a San Diego colony, a baby bonobo was whimpering for food. A nearby bonobo had stopped lactating, so she went over to the fountain to suck water into her mouth. She then sat down in front of the baby's puckering lips so that the infant could drink from them. The bonobo repeated this several times.
^Above info and quotes from, Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape, by Frans De Waal & Frans Lanting
I was able to relax some today while reading my book on bonobos. They have taught Kanzi, a bonobo at the Language Research Center of Georgia State University in Atlanta, how to use sign language as well as ways to elaborate and refine their language skills and cognitive skills. In one such exercise, the apes use a computer game to put three puzzle pieces together. Once they do this, they are presented with four pieces, and the fourth is a piece from a different portrait. The first time this was done with Kanzi, he kept trying to put the piece of a bunny's face together with a piece of the researcher's face. Since he understands language, she said to him: "Kanzi, we're not making the bunny, put Sue's face together." As soon as he heard this, he stopped making the bunny, and stuck to the correct puzzle pieces. One more exerice is where words are said for Kanzi to pick up the picture matching the word. They seem to understand our language to some degree. The researcher even told him to give the dog a shot, then he picked up a hypodermic syringe from among many objects on the floor, tore off the cap, and injected his stuffed toy dog. They also use lexigrams to show to the apes, who then point to the lexigram marked as what they want to do, eat, or play with. Another bonobo at the facility, Panbanisha, tends to point to her favorite foods located on the lexigram chart. When the food is brought to her, the others would vocalize because they wanted the same things. Panbanisha seemed to realize this and began gesturing to the others everytime her snacks would be brought to her. The researcher would then ask: "Do you want me to give this to Kanzi, or Tamuli?" She would then wave an arm in their direction, while vocalizing at Kanzi or Tamuli, who would respond with their own calls. It's really quite amazing how they all interact with one another and with people as well.
At the Twycross Zoo in England, Kuni captured a starling. It was feared that she might hurt the stunned bird, so the keeper urged Kuni to let the bird go. The ape took the bird outside and gently set it onto its feet, the right way up, where it stayed, looking petrified. When it didn't move, Kuni threw it a little way, but it just fluttered. Not satisfied, Kuni picked up the starling with one hand and climbed to the highest point of the highest tree, where she wrapped her legs around the trunk, so that she had both hands free to hold the bird. She then carefully unfolded its wings and spread them wide open, one wing in each hand, before throwing the bird as hard she could towards the barrier of the enclosure. Unfortunately, it fell short and landed onto the moat, where Kuni guarded it for a long time against a curious juvenile. The bird eventually flew off.
One researcher was studing some bonobos in the San Diego Zoo where she had given them hearts of celery, which were claimed by the females. The researcher gestured to have the apes look her way for a photograph, to which she was ignored by one female who thought she was begging for food. After ten minutes, the female bonobo suddenly stood up, divided her celery, and threw half of it across the moat to the researcher. On another visit, the researcher brought her infant child with her to show to the bonobos. The dominant female briefly glanced at the baby, then suddenly disappeared into an adjacent room to return with her own newborn.
Other occurances happened when a bonobo with a heart condition was protected and guided through hand holding by the dominant male when he would get upset or disoriented at the Milwaukee County Zoo. In a San Diego colony, a baby bonobo was whimpering for food. A nearby bonobo had stopped lactating, so she went over to the fountain to suck water into her mouth. She then sat down in front of the baby's puckering lips so that the infant could drink from them. The bonobo repeated this several times.
^Above info and quotes from, Bonobo: The Forgotten Ape, by Frans De Waal & Frans Lanting