Tag archives for Apes
Posted by Chimpanzees are more like humans than researchers previously thought. In a new study performed in Japan, chimps helped other chimps get juice by passing them objects such as straws (to drink the juice) or sticks (to reach straws they couldn’t reach). Researchers noticed that related chimps were more likely to help each other.
The chimps were trained to use sticks or straws to get juice, but they were not trained to pass things to each other.
Find out more about the research on National Geographic News.
Get the facts on chimpanzees in this Creature Feature.
Watch a video of a chimp solving a computer puzzle on News Bites.
Photograph by Miriam Wessels/University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, Germany
Marina Davila Ross of the U.K.’s University of Portsmouth led a team that tickled the necks, feet, palms, and armpits of chimp, orangutan, bonobo, gorilla, and human babies. All of the babies responded to the tickling with laughter. The study says that the ability to laugh like this comes from an ancestor that humans and great apes have in common.
Watch a video and hear chimp, gorilla, and orangutan laughter on National Geographic News.
Get the facts on orangutans in the Creature Feature.
Get the facts on chimpanzees in the Creature Feature.
A western lowland gorilla named Mandara gave birth to her sixth baby in the Great Ape House on January 10. The zoo isn’t sure if the tiny gorilla is a boy or a girl yet, because Mom’s keeping the baby all to herself for now.
Western lowland gorillas are listed as a critically endangered species, so these births are especially important. There have been seven successful western lowland gorilla births at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. since 1991.
See baby pictures and watch a video at the National Zoo.
Get the facts on mountain gorillas in the Creature Feature.
The Orangutan Foundation celebrates Orangutan Week from November 10 to November 16 this year. On Friday, November 14, dress in orange to celebrate Orangutan Day. Ask your friends to wear orange, too! Orangutans are Asia’s only great ape species and they are endangered.
Want to learn more about orangutans? Check out the Creature Feature.
