May 07 2008
Despite great intelligence Apes are in peril
On the BBC today I heard about a 19 year old genius who went to university at age 10 and is now a professor at age 19. But I’m delighted to report that genius is not restricted to humans. In the Telegraph yesterday I was discovered that genius also occurs amongst our ape cousins.
“They use their colossal strength to thrust their spears into holes in trees where they suspect nocturnal bushbabies are sleeping.
Anthropologist Jill Pruetz believes she has made a landmark discovery - a species other than humans learning - and passing on - the skills to make a lethal weapon”
Is anyone out there SERIOUSLY surprised? I could have told you that practically all animals are smart and learn (especially when hungry) - ok, I take that back slightly, I sometimes wonder about slugs …..but certainly monkeys and apes are supersmart. I’ve been out competed by a baboon in a race for the kitchen before! However clever our research, we the smartest of all apes, seem to be considerably challenged when it comes to saving the subjects of our studies, and as a result, we are losing our closest relatives and many other exciting species.
According to this article on Mongabey, the people of Cameroon also consider apes smart, so smart in fact that they are virtually humans and they wont eat them! (ok that never stopped cannibals in the past). The Cameroonian government has just created the first sanctuary for the world’s rarest type of ape: the Cross River gorilla. The Kagwene Gorilla Sanctuary — created by Prime Minister Ephraim Inoni’s decree — covers 19.5 sq km in a mountainous region of Cameroon. According to WCS the area is home to only 20 of the world’s remaining 300 Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli). You can read about it this new refuge on National Geographic
Of equal concern is that even the most common gorillas are at risk now. There are between 50,000 and 100,000 western lowland gorillas left in the wild, all of them in the forests of the Congo basin in central Africa. According to the IUCN, over the past 20 to 25 years, hunting and disease have reduced the numbers of western lowland gorilla by 60 percent! The other types of gorilla, which include the cross river gorilla, the mountain gorilla, and the eastern lowland gorilla, number only a few thousand, and are also found only in Africa. According to Fox News, An ebola vaccine is being developed for the lowland gorillas – I’m curious to see how it would be given to 100,000 gorillas that live deep in the rainforest.
How could you doubt the intelligence of this mountain gorilla?
Meanwhile the Brits are worried about a new Bill that could allow for the creation of Humanzees – YES, the breeding of humans and Chimps – it sounds unlikely and disgusting, but would we actually be able to tell a hairy big headed strong armed human from a humanzee? Pro lifers are up in arms, but I wonder if banning it would hardly stop people from experimenting now that the stupid idea is out there. In fact, could it explain some bizarre behaviours out there? I’m not even going to begin suggesting who is more chimp like but I have a few world leaders in mind.
Having said all that, I just wish we humans would focus our incredible intelligence on doing really clever things, like dealing with global poverty and sustainable protection of the planet.
