Study: Belligerent chimp proves animals make plans

LOL!

>Note to self: Don't piss off Santino the chimp<

Pretty wild. These creatures are showing their intelligence and evolution more and more in recent times. I think we underestimate just how advanced they truly are...

STOCKHOLM – A canny chimpanzee who calmly collected a stash of rocks and then hurled them at zoo visitors in fits of rage has confirmed that apes can plan ahead just like humans, a Swedish study said Monday. Santino the chimpanzee's anti-social behavior stunned both visitors and keepers at the Furuvik Zoo but fascinated researchers because it was so carefully prepared.

According to a report in the journal Current Biology, the 31-year-old alpha male started building his weapons cache in the morning before the zoo opened, collecting rocks and knocking out disks from concrete boulders inside his enclosure. He waited until around midday before he unleashed a "hailstorm" of rocks against visitors, the study said.

"These observations convincingly show that our fellow apes do consider the future in a very complex way," said the author of the report, Lund University Ph.D. student Mathias Osvath. "It implies that they have a highly developed consciousness, including lifelike mental simulations of potential events."

Full Article:

news.yahoo.com...

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


At least it was only stones he threw!

This is quite an interesting story, and does show that animals are a lot smarter than we give them credit for.

Nice. So there's an evolutionary/genetic component to my hording of guns and ammo.

Another excuse in the arsenal that is responses to questions asked by those who shouldnt be minding my business in the first place.

This certainly doesn't prove planning at all. How is anyone to know the chimp collected rocks with the intention of throwing them at people. Very likely the 2 events (collecting and throwing) had nothing to do with each other. BUT, people like to read into these kinds of things, so most will believe they have to do with each simply because they WANT to believe it.

This doesn't come as a shock to me. We humans have some inherent belief that we alone are capable of cognitive thought.

Why couldn't our closest living relative, the chimp, be able to think and act strategically? Certainly we've evolved this ability as a species to a higher degree, but theres no reason to think that other animals are capable of the same thing.

reply to post by Ashnoth


There are scientists who are observing the chimp's behavior. The chimp stockpiled his stones to throw them later. Is it so hard to believe there are creatures that are smart other than just us humans? Many creatures exhibit some form of planning including squirrels that hoard acorns and other nuts for the winter. It could be explained away as instinct, but it is planning any way one looks at it.

what a cool monkey
i think we underestimate animals drasticly
i go to my nans for my sunday dinner every sunday
coz my little cusins and nethew love my dog
he gose every sunday with me
only on a sunday dose he come into my room wake me up and wine until we go. as soon as we get there hes calm and normal
he knows wat day of the week it is.
i find that amazing

Think this has been covered and posted already?
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Edit to add never mind that's a breaking story

Carry on

[edit on 13-3-2009 by SLAYER69]

Originally posted by Ashnoth
This certainly doesn't prove planning at all. How is anyone to know the chimp collected rocks with the intention of throwing them at people. Very likely the 2 events (collecting and throwing) had nothing to do with each other. BUT, people like to read into these kinds of things, so most will believe they have to do with each simply because they WANT to believe it.

Yes. Ignoring the obvious is just SOOOOO illogical.

So a chimp throws rocks at people and suddenly he's a genius? Give me a break.....

Yes, a chimpanzee that makes plans and is able to play out scenarios of future possibilities in his head is indeed a big deal.

i saw this story and thought it was cool, thanks for posting it DD.

first off, i think it is great that our 'scientists' begin to see the larger scope of animal cognitive abilities. i have always been a lover of animals and have always assumed them to be sentient.

secondly, i think this story is also telling of the 'emotional' ability (for lack of a better word) of animals.

...hording hundreds of rocks to throw at the people who come to see him?
sounds a bit retaliatory and driven by angst if you ask me. perhaps he is a bit
unhappy with living in a cage and decided to lash out at what he sees as his
oppressors.

Originally posted by DimensionalDetective
Pretty wild. These creatures are showing their intelligence and evolution more and more in recent times.

Yep, wild it is...

Here is a video proof for those who are skeptical of animal intelligence

(hey to answer your question in your sig. while my family hasn't regrown limbs they have regrown corneas, fallopian tubes, torn out sections of skin, cuticles and nail.....the rest of you just need to catch up with us.)

Animals that interact with humans are under immense evolutionary pressures. Just from having to interact with us. I would be surprised if the intense pressure we put on them and their preset programming didn't cause them to start evolving.