Captive Bonobos Observed Making, Using Tools and Spears

It was only a matter of time before the famed documentary "Planet of the Apes" began to show it's true predictions in the planet around us.

The University of Haifa announced that bonobos have been observed making and using tools and spears for the first time. Chimpanzees in nature have been seen making tools to obtain food such as tubers and termites, breaking open nuts with hammers and anvils, and making spears from branches for hunting. Itai Roffman of the university’s Institute of Evolution provided bonobos in a zoo setting and in a sanctuary setting with food that had been buried, hidden, and concealed in various locations. He also provided them with raw materials for toolmaking such as green branches and deer antlers. Both groups of bonobos were able to perform the food extraction tasks, but the sanctuary bonobos were much more successful.

Link



So, prepare for the global destruction of humanity, dust off your knee-pads, we have new overlords to praise on the way.

a reply to: Ghost147

Sentience; the final frontier.

Being sentient used to be limited to just us and then it was ascribed to other primates before creeping outwards to elephants, dolphins, orcas and some of the crow family. I wonder where we'll eventually draw the line?

It's like LIFE has Team B and more back-ups waiting on the sidelines to take over when our team has left the game.

Modern techies are always saying, 'back up your data' and here's nature doing just that.

They're so intelligent.

Monkeys now use different tools, havnt they always used tools.
Havnt we seen lots of animals using tools in the past
Otters cracking shell with rocks
Elephants use branches to scratch themselves



So much its not funny

en.wikipedia.org...

Tools using the internet is more noteworthy I think

a reply to: Raggedyman

I think you missed a key part of the article where it states Bonobos have been observed for the first time. Not that this is the first time for any animals, but rather, specifically Bonobos.

Furthermore, the very link you cited states that "There is considerable discussion about the definition of what constitutes a tool and therefore which behaviours can be considered as true examples of tool use.", and also states "Rarely, animals have been observed making their own tools", which is what the OP's article focuses on.

Lastly, Bonobos are not Monkeys.

a reply to: Ghost147

I read about bonobos doing this a few months back in the wild. Did they just recently take that information, put them in captivity and definitively proved it?

a reply to: Ghost147

Very cool thx for sharing......all creatures on this earth have different levels of intelligence and I believe they are all much more intelligent than we give them credit for.....

originally posted by: jheated5
a reply to: Ghost147

I read about bonobos doing this a few months back in the wild. Did they just recently take that information, put them in captivity and definitively proved it?

Yes, three years ago the same researcher in the article in the OP managed to show that two bonobos were capable of preparing and using a range of early Homo type stone tools in order to reach inaccessible food in natural contexts.

In the current study, the researcher sought to examine whether other bonobos, in a sanctuary and a zoo, were also capable of undertaking sophisticated sequential-actions in extractive foraging tasks.

Another big discovery in this research was that not only could they make the tools, but they were using them for more than just food, they were using them as defense as well.
"
This is the first time that evidence has been obtained showing that any species other than archaic pre-humans (members of the Homo genus) can skillfully employ ancient pre-agricultural tool assisted strategies such as those used by Paranthropus."

Welcome to the bamboo age* fellas - stay there for a couple hundred millenia. Trust me you don't want what comes next, not that we'll leave anything for you.

*(I have no idea what you'd call the pre-Stone age lol, would this be their equivalent to our paleolithic age?)

I wonder what would happen if bonabos watched the new Conquest of the planet of the apes on a big screen tv?

our cousins are doing more then OK:


Call, J., Tomasello, M. (1994). The social learning of tool use by orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus). Human Evolution, 9(4), 297-313. DOI: 10.1007/BF02435516

Schaik, C.P., Fox, E.A., Sitompul, A.F. (1996). Manufacture and use of tools in wild Sumatran orangutans. Naturwissenschaften, 83(4), 186-188. DOI: 10.1007/BF01143062

van Schaik, C.P. (2003). Orangutan Cultures and the Evolution of Material Culture. Science, 299(5603), 102-105. DOI: 10.1126/science.1078004

a reply to: Ghost147

I heard that Bonobos are more peaceful than Humans or Orangutans so it probably isn't going to be planet of the apes lol.

I wonder what knowledge will they learn with their Bonobo eyes, ears, and brains, that will be difficult for the human eye, ear, and brain to understand.

Dolphins would be even more interesting to have an intelligent conversation with since they are aquatic creatures who can hear many sounds that human beings cannot.

a reply to: arpgme

It will be a 24/7 orgy when bonobos take over.
Their society is very sex oriented.

Primates have been seen using keys they stolel to open the locks to their cages, A gorilla (whatsername) learned hundreds of signs to make short sentences. Is that language skills, lock picking? Or mimic 101?

For my money birds and particularly Crows are the damn smartest at figuring (human) stuff and utilizing tools. Lots of video of them performing…

originally posted by: boymonkey74
It will be a 24/7 orgy when bonobos take over.
Their society is very sex oriented.

I guess your dry spell is nearly at an end.

a reply to: arpgme

I heard that Bonobos are more peaceful than Humans or Orangutans so it probably isn't going to be planet of the apes lol.

I agree.Unlike Chimpanzees who become aggressive when threatened, Bonobos settle disputes by making love…

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Finally .

a reply to: Ghost147
I heard a story about an animal sanctuary in Indiana. Somebody was putting together a generator there and went on his lunch break. He made the mistake of leaving his tools within reach of the chimpanzee cage. When he came back, the generator was in pieces. The parts were sorted into neat little piles and so were the bolts that held them together.

a reply to: intrptr

Since bonobo sex is all about dominance and hierarchy, is it really all about making love? When we talk about politics and political rivals and deal making, just substitute sex in there for the backroom deals, imagine how much "fun" that would be for most people and then extrapolate that out to bonobo society.

Somehow, I don't think that would be all that much fun, particularly if you aren't the tops on the hierarchy. Consider, the ones getting it all that you'd have to make up to and put out for would be ... Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnel, Harry Reid, Paul Ryan ... Urgh!

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: intrptr

Since bonobo sex is all about dominance and hierarchy, is it really all about making love? When we talk about politics and political rivals and deal making, just substitute sex in there for the backroom deals, imagine how much "fun" that would be for most people and then extrapolate that out to bonobo society.

Somehow, I don't think that would be all that much fun, particularly if you aren't the tops on the hierarchy. Consider, the ones getting it all that you'd have to make up to and put out for would be ... Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnel, Harry Reid, Paul Ryan ... Urgh!

Ewww… according to the Soviets, when they entered the Fuhrer Bunker after the fall of Berlin, they found signs of an orgy.

I can well imagine World Elites doing all kind of weird s***. Once in a while we get these rumors… total despots on the world stage and behind it.

Nancy Pelosi? Ewww…

As for Bonobos they are much less aggressive than chimpanzees. They have bigger clans, are easier to film, make a lot less racket.