I, For One, Etc. of the Day: According to Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaug of the Great Ape Trust in Des Moines, Kanzi, a 31-year-old bonobo in her care, became fascinated with making fire after watching the film Quest for Fire when he was only a year old.
“The movie was released about a year after Kanzi was born and was about early man struggling to control fire,” says Dr. Savage-Rumbaugh. “Kanzi watched this spellbound over and over hundreds of times.”
The chimp soon began collecting firewood and attempting to ignite it. “His demeanour when he focused on making fire was just like when he watched the movie,” says the doctor, who has clearly not watched enough movies herself to know this couldn’t possibly end well.
In addition to his fire-making skills, Kanzi can also understands some 2,000 words through a system of symbols called lexigrams.
Suffice it to say, if he develops a knack for riding horses I’m outta here.
[telegraph.]
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