My article of the day (on so many levels) written by Mark Henderson and published in The Times.
“When Santino the chimpanzee started pelting zoo visitors with stones, his keepers were mystified.
“Not that they were surprised by his displays of aggression — the 31-year-old chimp is, after all, a dominant male. But there was no obvious source of stones in his enclosure; so where was he finding all the missiles?
“All became clear when they carried out a search and found his stockpiles of rocks. Santino had been fishing stones from the moat surrounding his enclosure – and, even more impressively, he had been shaping odd pieces of concrete into aerodynamic disc-shaped missiles. Then he had been stashing them away for future use…
“But his behaviour has led scientists to conclude that premeditation is not a uniquely human trait.
“It seems chimpanzees, too, are capable of forward planning, and have a sophisticated understanding of past and future…”
Such a wonderful story!
Comment by roger yates — April 1, 2009 @ 9:21 pm |