Nature & Environment

Wild chimp culture caught on camera

By T.K. Randall
October 1, 2014

Image: Common Chimpanzee at the Leipzig Zoo
Credit: Thomas Lersch / CC BY-SA 3.0 (adapted) While it is already well established that chimps use tools to perform a number of different tasks, it is still extremely rare to observe the discovery of a new tool and to see its use being shared and adopted across a community of wild chimpanzees.

Dr Catherine Hobaiter and her research team however have managed to do exactly that while filming chimps exhibiting new behavior at a field station in Uganda.The tool in question was a new type of 'sponge' made from crumpled up leaves that the animals were using to help them drink. The team watched with interest as the chimps learned from one another how to use the device by dipping it in to a pond and then sucking the water out.

"Basically, if you saw it done, you learned how to do it, and if you didn't you didn't," said Dr Hobaiter. "It was just this wonderfully clear example of social learning that no one had seen in the wild before."

Source: BBC News

Tags: Chimpanzee, Primate