Rock-throwing chimp plots attacks on tourists

[N-Do]

Quote:A chimp that deliberately fashions discs of concrete to later hurl at zoo visitors is being hailed as definitive proof that the apes plan for future events.

Although similar claims have previously been made about chimps using tools to collect food, what sets Santino – a 30-year-old chimp from Furuvik zoo in Sweden – apart, is that his behaviour, and therefore his apparent state of mind, when collecting the ammunition seems markedly different from when he launches his attacks.

"The chimp has without exception been calm during gathering or manufacture of the ammunition, in contrast to the typically aroused state [when he throws the rocks]," says Mathias Osvath of the University of Lund, also in Sweden.

Unlike previous claims of pre-planning in apes, Santino's planning doesn't seem to be driven by a current emotional or physical drive like hunger or anger, but in anticipation of an event later in the day.





Santino originally started collecting and throwing rocks shortly after becoming the dominant male in his group at the age of 16. He typically collects rocks from the bottom of the moat that surrounds his enclosure before the zoo opens, and stores them in piles on the side of the island that faces the zoo's visitors. He also hacks pieces of concrete from the artificial rocks at the centre of his enclosure and adds them to the piles.

However, Santino's rock throwing is confined the summer period, when the zoo is open to visitors, and the desire to throw his discs seems to wear off after about six weeks. The chimp is also more inclined to hurl his missiles in the morning, rather than in the afternoon.

Missile-throwing chimp plots attacks on tourists


Some Stones that Santino has thrown

[sTr]

Animals FTW!

[N-Do]

Yeah all that animal/human talk in the other thread reminded me of this bajaja

[XIII]

Wow, he must be just as smart as me cuz he learned that putting rocks in a pile gives you a pile of rocks. Derp.

[sTr]

wait.... putting rocks into piles makes piles of rocks.... shit.... what have ! been doing my whole life...

[N-Do]

He's a tad bit smarter, cuz he picks the rocks throughout the morning before the zoo opens so he will have an arsenel of stuff to throw throughout the day, he plans ahead. & thats what I like to see.

[XIII]

Squirrels harvest nuts for winter. This isn't new behaviour for animals. I dunno why everyone on this site is obsessed with animals' intelligence. I mean... it's fun to watch, but.... they've got a ways to go before they start a civilization.

[sTr]

XIII Wrote:Squirrels harvest nuts for winter. This isn't new behaviour for animals. I dunno why everyone on this site is obsessed with animals' intelligence. I mean... it's fun to watch, but.... they've got a ways to go before they start a civilization.

cause we're fags....

[N-Do]

XIII Wrote:Squirrels harvest nuts for winter. This isn't new behaviour for animals. I dunno why everyone on this site is obsessed with animals' intelligence. I mean... it's fun to watch, but.... they've got a ways to go before they start a civilization.

It is a new behavior for Chimps though, for the fact that he's getting ready to throw shit at the humans that will be visiting him that day, I dont see to many other chimps out there doing that.

And we've got a lil ways to go before our civilization ends, but I think almost everything will be fucked when our time is up.

[XIII]

Don't get me wrong, I don't feel ABOVE animals. Just different.

That's the problem with people, they think just because something's different than something else, then one of those things has to be superior to the other.

Chimps are really smart though. I've seen them learn sign language, I've seen them share food with each other. Like, handing each other food. That's really civilized. But I mean... there's a difference between those fundamental behaviours and the things that humans have done. Whether our shit makes sense or not, it's still WAAAAY more complicated than animals'.

[N-Do]

Word.

[Grimlin]

This thread would have been funnier if it there was poop involved......they are coming a long ways from flinging crap.

[N-Do]

Why would poop be funnier then rocks if they've been throwing poop forever and a day?