Re:Wild orangutan seen healing his wound with a plant
by ASalazarMX on Monday May 06, 2024 @07:59PM
(#40280848)
I still think that said orangutan didn't have to blow a kiss and wave goodbye, after all it already had what it wanted: seeing a baby. It could as well just turn around and leave.
Orangutans likely don't blow kisses in the wild, so it not only imitated it, but also used it in an appropriate manner and context, without an immediate need to satisfy.
Chimps are roughly as smart as a 5 year-old human, and toddlers sure blow kisses and wave goodbye with full intention.
Great apes are more human-like than most people think: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/17/science/17chimp.html
It wouldn't shock me if we did learn they can learn that way, but it also wouldn't shock me if it was just blindly copying human gestures without learning anything from what happens when they do.