CAUTION! WE ARE BEING WATCHED!

CAUTION! WE ARE BEING WATCHED!

One of these days I was playing with Vitor through the window of his tunnel. At that moment I was carrying a paper box with peanuts to distribute to the chimpanzees.

Vitor had already eaten his peanuts, but, even with the box being empty, he insisted on pointing at it, asking me give it to him. I tried to pass the box through the window span, but the box was too large to pass through it. I told him I was going up to throw the box to him. Imediately Vitor went towards the external part of the enclosure and waited for me, staring to the place I was supposed to arrive at.

I threw the box to him, and he got it and came back to the tunnel. When I arrived, Vitor started to laugh and put and lifted the box repeatedly on his head, like playing hide and seek.

I was intrigued to see his reaction, but I soon realized what he had done. Last week I entered at the enclosure with Lucke and took a similar paper box. From his fence he watched me playing with Lucke of putting the box on the head and lifting it, just like a hide and seek play. Vitor saw, remembered the playing and copied it.

This is one more proof that they can be much more smart then our inteligence can predict...

Msc. Luiz Fernando Leal Padulla
Biologist