Kanzi, a male bonobo, has learned how to make a fire and even cook food over it!!
This seems like a Rise of the Planet of the Apes situation.
Even though this is the first instance of a bonobo ape learning this skill, it actually follows with the standard course of evolution.
An ape researcher said:
“When humans learned to control fire and to domesticate dogs we began to feel a new level of safety which freed us to become creative and to create more sophisticated cultures.”
Kanzi is comfortable cooking hamburgers in a pan over the fire and even roasting marshmallows on a stick!
He learned how to use fire by lighting matches.
So he didn’t literally create fire on his own by rubbing two sticks together but it’s still pretty freaky.
Let’s hope the zookeepers taught him about fire safety.
[Image via WENN.]