Elephants, gorillas and chimps hold out in Cameroon’s largest protected landscape
WWF research has revealed that the population of elephants, gorillas and chimpanzees in and around two national parks (Boumba Bek and Nki) in Cameroon has remained relatively stable since 2016. Conservationists celebrate, but continue to warn about the threats still facing wild populations.
A recent study by Johns Hopkins University shows that bonobos are capable of intuiting the ignorance of others, an ability previously thought to be exclusively human. This capacity is called "Theory of Mind" and was demonstrated by bonobos living at the Ape Initiative, a non-profit research and education organization in the United States.
Today marks 64 years of the first chimpanzee in space
Exactly 64 years ago, three-year-old Ham was forced to become the first chimpanzee to travel into space. Save the Chimps Sanctuary honors Ham and his involuntary sacrifice, remembering that it was the fate of the chimpanzees in the US Air Force that inspired the founding of the Sanctuary.
Chimpanzees choose stone tools like early human ancestors from 2.5 million years ago
A new study published in the Journal of Human Evolution has shown remarkable similarities between how modern chimpanzees and early human ancestors pick tools, giving fresh insights into the evolution of tool use. The scientists watched chimps in Bossou, Guinea, using a hammer to hit nuts and an anvil to hold them steady.
Wild chimpanzees adapt genetically to different habitats
The study's findings have implications for conservation, suggesting that changes in climate and in land use result in different effects on chimpanzee populations. While rainforest degradation could be a danger mostly for forest chimps, habitat changes that increase malaria pressure could danger woodland-savannah groups.
Bonobos are the only primates, including humans, that don’t kill others in their species
A recent study conducted with bonobos by an international researchers reveals an interesting question: The "common enemy effect" behavior, a phenomenon in which we unite with others because of a shared opponent or problem, is exhibited by bonobos in a peculiar way.
Chimpanzees’ Task Performance Changes When Observed by Humans
A new study finds that chimpanzees, like humans, are affected by being watched: their performance on computer tasks improved on difficult tasks with larger human audiences but declined on simpler ones. This phenomenon, the “audience effect,” was previously thought to be unique to humans.
For decades Achille, 50, lived alone in wretched conditions in a cramped circus cage. But better days could lie ahead for the chimpanzee and almost 150 great apes in Spain, who stand to benefit from a pioneering bill that would strengthen laws safeguarding their well-being.
26 chimpanzees remain imprisoned at the Alamogordo Primate Facility, where they endured years of cruel experimentation. Though the National Institutes of Health ended invasive research on chimps almost a decade ago, these survivors have yet to experience the peace and sanctuary they deserve.
The study, which is the result of analyzing conversations of various groups of chimpanzees in the wild in Africa for over 15 years, confirms that our evolutionary relatives also engage in rapid turn-taking in their conversations, mainly involving gestures.
Peter Singer announces support for the Great Apes Law in Spain
Philosopher Peter Singer, one of the founders of the Great Ape Project, announced his support for the Law. "The Great Ape Project Spain has been working for many years to improve the legal situation of great apes in Spain, and is supporting this legislation as the best achievable."
Africa: Snare removal program supports chimpanzee conservation
Wild chimpanzees are caught in snares set for other animals and can be seriously injured, compromising their survival and behavior and posing a threat. A study shows how important the removal of snares is for their conservation.
News about great apes using plants for medicinal treatments has been reported before. This past week one more was released: a team observing the behavior of chimpanzees in Uganda identified the search for antibacterial plants for self-medication purposes.
Book review – “Trauma in Sentient Beings: Nature, Nurture and Nim” ( by Antonina Anna Scarná and Robert Ingersoll – 2024)
In "Trauma in Sentient Beings", the authors expand on their argument that the language research had traumatic impacts on both the chimpanzees and their human researcher-carers, and moreover that such impacts apply to all chimpanzees held in captivity.
Pedro Pozas affirms: My intention with this book is to contribute to the fight to end aggression against non-human hominids, recognize their rights, protect their populations in the wild, equally defend their habitat and the local human populations that coexist with them, and end their captivity.
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