Monday, September 3, 2007
Kanzi (born October 28, 1980), is a male Bonobo who has been featured in several studies on great ape language. According to Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, a primatologist who has studied the bonobo throughout his life, Kanzi has exhibited advanced linguistic aptitude.
Biography
In an outing in the Georgia woods, Kanzi touched the symbols for "marshmallows" and "fire." "Given matches and marshmallows, Kanzi snapped twigs for a fire, lit them with the matches and toasted the marshmallows on a stick." (Anecdote told by Savage-Rumbaugh to Paul Raffaele, published in Smithsonian magazine, November 2006.)
Kanzi and the Maori War Dance
Sue Savage-Rumbaugh has observed Kanzi in communication to his sister. In this experiment, Kanzi was kept in a separate room of the Great Ape Project and shown some yogurt. Kanzi started vocalizing the word "yogurt" in an unknown "language"; his sister, who could not see the yogurt, then pointed to the lexigram for yogurt.
Kanzi vocalized a message to his sister: Yogurt!
Kanzi's accomplishments also include tool use and tool crafting. Kanzi is an accomplished stone tool maker and is quite proud of his ability to flake Oldowan style cutting knives. He learned this skill from Dr. Nick Toth, who is an anthropologist with the Stone Age Institute in Bloomington, Indiana. The stone knives Kanzi create are very sharp and can cut animal hide and thick ropes.
Kanzi's appearance
Koko
Washoe
Nim Chimpsky
Alex (parrot)
Akeakamai
Clever Hans
Kosik
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