Chimps Have Developed New Behavioral Conduct by Destroying Drone with Sticks

An incident occurring on April 10 at the Royal Burgers’ Zoo in the Netherlands proves that chimps have developed new behavioral conduct by destroying drone with sticks. The episode is another evidence that primates act and think just like humans do, scientists have concluded.

Dutch researchers Jan van Hooff and Bas Lukkenaar simply wanted to observe the behavior of the two chimps from the Dutch Zoo from afar. They have used drones to film the simians during their day to day activities and later on, draw conclusions on their behavior.

Events took an unexpected turn when Tushi and Raime, two of the chimps, destroyed the drone with tree branches and sticks. The footage has nevertheless been recovered and scientists could establish that the attack had been previously planned because the drone was annoying the primates.

According to the recorded images, Tushi, one of the female chimps climbed on a tree and used a 6-feet branch to take down the flying machinery. The first strike failed, but the second blow was successful in taking down the intrusive apparatus.

Although the drone had been exterminated, the camera still managed to film the primates. They all gathered around the drone and inspected it to better determine what it was. Being unable to make a meaning of it, the chimps eventually abandoned the drone and went on with their zoo existence.

What other scientists may label as an unsuccessful experiment, the two Dutch researches describe as evidence of inestimable value about chimps’ behavior. According to Hooff and Lukkenaar, the primates planned all the steps of their attack with human precision.

The fact that Tushi climbed on the tree that was closest to the drone indicates that the animals had studied the movements of the drone. They could, thus, estimate where the best location would be for them to make their attack.

This is not all; Tushi did not choose just any tree branch. The female chimp estimated that only a 6-foot stick would be long enough to take the drone down.

The grimaces that the exemplar evinced on her face during the attack are strong indicators of irritation. What is more interesting, nobody suspected that the chimpanzees were annoyed by the drone as they did not let this show from their behavior. Scientists believe the exemplars pretended to be relaxed so their attack would not be anticipated.

In the end, researchers have concluded that primates could have acquired a new behavioral conduct in regard to weapons. Their findings were explained in the journal Primates.

Image source: www.techtimes.com