Chimp gathers ammo and throws stones at visitors

[katty]

more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/mar/09/chimp-zoo-stones-science

The loutish behaviour of a stone-throwing chimpanzee at a zoo near the Arctic circle has challenged scientists' beliefs about human beings.

Santino, a 31-year-old male at Furuvik zoo in Sweden, may be the first animal to exhibit an unambiguous ability to plan for the future, a behaviour many scientists argue is unique to humans. Forward planning takes considerable cognitive skills, because it requires an animal to envisage future events it will have to deal with.

Santino would get agitated when the first groups of visitors arrived at his enclosure in the morning, and would start hurling stones at the spectators. When the zookeepers investigated, they found that, while the zoo was closed, Santino had been busy making piles of ammunition, and returned to them to resupply.

[shadowknows69]

1. I was so hoping this was a story about George W Bush

My greatest dream is still for him to completely lose it on live TV somewhere.

[Bobbie Jo]

17. LOL....my first thought.

However....throwing poo would be more likely.

[Javaman]

2. too easy. nt

[CatWoman]

3. Just read this story on the Huff Post

smart lil guy, isn't he? :)

[tangent90]

4. Dogs have buried bones for future munching for a million years.

Sounds like planning to me. :D

[gratuitous]

5. Not to mention

Birds building nests before they have a clutch of eggs to brood, or spiders spinning webs before they have prey to munch on. I'm not sure what sort of "planning" the story might be referring to.

[damntexdem]

19. Yeah, but none of those show the trend toward the true expression of intelligence ...

the ability to engage in planning a war. ;-)

[BuyingThyme]

6. And what about the squirrels? All that work and no recognition.

[tangent90]

7. Or this little guy!

:D

[BuyingThyme]

9. Hey, that's the guy who kept on jumping on my leg last summer!

Every time I'd get back into my book, he would hop back on an freak me out.

[damntexdem]

20. Just sharing with you ...

did you notice the fleas, later? ;-)

[BuyingThyme]

24. No, no fleas there.

[Canuckistanian]

14. And squirrels have amazing memories to remember where they buried food

Like many members of the family Sciuridae, the Eastern Gray Squirrel is a scatter-hoarder; it hoards food in numerous small caches for later recovery.

Some caches are quite temporary, especially those made near the site of a sudden abundance of food which can be retrieved within hours or days for re-burial in a more secure site. Others are more permanent and are not retrieved until months later.

It has been estimated that each squirrel makes several thousand caches each season. The squirrels have very accurate spatial memory for the locations of these caches, and use distant and nearby landmarks to retrieve them. Smell is used once the squirrel is within a few centimeters of the cache.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Gray_Squirrel

[Crunchy Frog]

22. Clark's nutcracker.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061012094818.htm

[TheCowsCameHome]

8. No wonder they're concerned about the Bush library - possibility of lawsuits

[Stevenmarc]

10. So that's what he's been doing after Project Runway

[blindpig]

11. They are also capable of executing bank shots.

A monkey biscuit, aimed using the reflection on the glass, will be banked on said glass and whack the keeper right in the head. Every time.

Those things hurt but it beats a turd, which don't bank so well at all.

[LisaM]

12. I used to have a dog who planned out a two-part strategy

to get a chew stick from her brother. They'd each get one, but she liked to have him start one, and then take it, giving him the fresh one. So she'd try to distract him with hers. She'd go over and take hers and fling it so he'd chase it (he fell for this only once, but she never lost faith). When that didn't work anymore, she'd put hers on the ground and stomp it with her paw so that it would shoot across the room and he'd drop his and go chase it (he only fell for this once, too).

The funny thing was that he didn't care - we could take the gently used one from him and give him the new one, didn't matter to him a bit. So I guess after a while, she had us trained to get her his chew stick!

[Donnachaidh]

13. wonder why he's not flinging feces

At the Staten Island Zoo (before they put glass up in front of the chimp's cage) there were several "oldtimers" that would take great pleasure in crapping mid-air into their hands, and flinging poo, several times a day. I was present one day as I watched one rowdy chimp plan out and execute a particularly savage attack on a ladies hat. And on her grandkid.

[BuyingThyme]

15. Maybe he doesn't want to get his hands dirty.

[guitar man]

16. OMG!!!1!! We're Screwn!!!1!1!!11

This is Hugh!!!1!! I'm Series!!!!!1!!11!!!



:rofl:

[Doctor_J]

18. The zoo keepers in Dallas are taking precautions

[damntexdem]

21. That's right, a gated community right here in North Texas.

Lots of security. And a courtyard where stones can be broken up. ;-)

[Gidney N Cloyd]

23. "Now watch this drive."