The other day, i spotted a new time magazine (we have a subscription) with a cute pug on the front and the words "What Animals Think" above him. This sounded interesting, so i grabbed it and sat down to read. When I found the article I was surprised-it started with a story about the author (Jeffrey Kluger) having coffee with Kanzi,a twenty nine year old Bonobo(Apparently, a distant cousin of the chimpanzee. This was new information to me too.). Kanzi was the one who invited him-using one of his three laminated pieces of paper that are a sort of glossary he keeps at hand. He has three hundred and eighty four words on the list, but he can point to more than one at a time to either make a new word (slow and lettuce means kale because it takes longer to chew) or a sentence (feel and kiss and eat and candy is how another bonobo, Nyota asks for his two favorite things: Kisses and Candy. There was even more interesting stuff about how birds are smart enough to use tools, and orangutans have enough self awareness that they often preen in mirrors,etc. You really should read it if you have time. It's on their website:
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2008759,00.html
No comments:
Post a Comment