Why chimpanzees are at threshold of humanity

posted in 30 Jun 2009

An article published at Veja Magazine, one of the main magazines in Brazil, this week tells the story of African grey parrot Alex and his owner, and his ability to communicate and learn. The same article brings a table of some species of animal kingdom and their intelligence abilities (beside). In this list, chimpanzees and bonobos are shown as the most advanced ones, at the threshold of humanity.

Read the article here (in Portuguese).

News - More News

posted in 05 Dec 2024

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.

posted in 12 Nov 2024

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.

posted in 30 Oct 2024

Spain seeks ground-breaking law for great apes

A chimpanzee is pictured at the Pridadomus recovering centre, founded by Dutch association AAP, in Villena, near Alicante. (Jose Jordan / AFP)

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.

posted in 12 Sep 2024

Demand Sanctuary for Alamogordo Chimps

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.

posted in 13 Aug 2024

Chimpanzees converse like humans, new study finds

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.

Residents' Stories

posted in 24 Apr 2024

Katai and Sansão: orangutans in captivity in Brazil

Female orangutan Katai is the only resident of the species in a sanctuary in Brazil. Sansão lives alone in the São Paulo zoo for years. A lawsuit requests Sansão to be transferred to the sanctuary, aiming to improve both orangutan’s…

Katai

Orangutan

Meet the beautiful Katai! The female orangutan was born in 1985 in a German zoo and is a Sumatra/Borneo hybrid. Since 2010, she has been one of the residents of the Anami Institute's Great Apes Sanctuary, in Paraná.

Date of birth: 02/07/1985
Origin: Germany
Sanctuary: São José dos Pinhais, Paraná/Brazil

posted in 03 Apr 2024

Children snatched away by the circus

Throughout her life in the circus, Lucy gave birth to several children, but had no chance of becoming a mother. The babies were snatched from her on the day they were born, probably to be sold.

Lucy

Chimpanzee

Lucy is a docile female and very zealous with her children. During her life in the circus, she had several puppies, but no opportunity to raise them, as they were taken from her the same day they were born. With her arrival at Anami, this reality changed. Lucy can raise Noel, her youngest son.

Date of birth: 1981
Origin: Circus
Sanctuary: São José dos Pinhais, Paraná/Brazil

posted in 29 Nov 2023

In memory of Johny - 05/20/2000 - 11/29/2014

"Johny was the beginning of everything, of a struggle that will never die." The Starostik couple took care of a baby chimp rejected at birth in a zoo and created a suitable place for welfare in captivity.

in memoriam

Johny