Amazingly Smart Chimp Kanzi – 11 Pictures

Kanzi is a bonobo (also known as pygmy chimp) who lives in the Great Ape Trust, Iowa. At first sight there is nothing extraordinary about this guy, beside the small fact that he's able to gather the firewood, break it into smaller pieces, pile it up, light it with a match and then place a grill and a frying pan on it and cook himself some food.

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Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh claims that he picked up this skill by watching hours and hours of the documentary called “Quest for Fire”. The documentary is about early men and their struggles to keep themselves warm and predator-free, the thing they managed to do when they learned how to make and control fire.

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Kanzi spends most of his time outside, and that's where his handler noticed his fascination with fire and his skills in making it and maintaining it. He wasn't forced to learn how to do it, either by handlers or by nature – meaning he has all the food and a warm bed waiting for him whenever he wishes. It's just his desire to learn that got him there.

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The only thing about fire that Kanzi doesn't understand, and we hope he'll never learn it the hard way, is danger that fire poses. He often leaves it unattended when he finishes his meal and just goes back to roaming and having fun.

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