Jezebel: Chimpanzees

Genius Chimp Is Smarter Than You With Your Dumb Human Brain

Madeleine Davies — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:30:00 EST

Ayumu is an 11-year-old chimpanzee raised at Kyoto University in Japan. He is also a total braniac that can solve difficult numerical puzzles in 60 milliseconds. Oh, boy. This is how Rise of the Planet of the Apes starts, isn't it? More »

Female Chimps More Likely To Play With "Dolls"

Katie Luscombe — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:24:00 EST

Researches have observed that wild young female chimps , when playing with sticks, used them as "dolls" more often than the males, who mostly used them as weapons. Previously, this type of gendered play was thought to be limited to humans. More »

The Great EscApes

Anna Holmes — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:10:00 EDT

[Sylmar, California; September 1. Image via Getty]

If I Could Talk To The Animals

Sadie Stein — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:30:00 EDT

"There's a huge resistance in thinking about animals as having emotions, feelings, by anyone involved in invasive research...whether it's putting animals in cages and experimenting on them, or the meat industry. It's much easier to be nasty."-Jane Goodall [LAT] More »

The Lady Was A Champ

Anna Holmes — Thu, 07 May 2009 10:20:00 EDT

"I can tell you exactly when we knew," says Carole Noon's sister of her love of animals. "When the Tramp got carried to jail... we had to carry her out of the theater." [NY Times] More »

Christmas Primate Loves His Primary Colors

Anna Holmes — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:10:00 EST

[Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands. Image via Getty]

Martha Stewart & Jane Goodall's Goofy Gorilla Greetings Sound Like Crazy Sex

Dodai Stewart — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:30:00 EDT

Dr. Jane Goodall was on Martha Stewart's show this morning, and she greeted Martha with traditional ape sounds, which Martha emulated. While these noises come naturally to gorillas and chimpanzees, the ladies sounded like they were having intense orgasms. Afterward, Dr. Goodall showed Martha another ape greeting, which was slightly more intimate, and involved Dr. Goodall embracing Martha and breathing on her neck. It's all about animal magnetism! Clip above. More »

The Secret Sex Lives of Female Chimpanzees

Megan Carpentier — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:45:00 EDT

Leaving aside the strangeness of a research project that involves watching monkeys fucking all day, scientists studying chimpanzees in Uganda have made the interesting discovery that our closest animal relatives know when to be discreet about their sex lives. Although female chimps will advertise that they're in estrus (i.e., fertile) with a specific call, they only occasionally make noise during sex. In fact, if there are higher-status female chimps around or if they are mating with lower status-males (which was about two-thirds of the time in the study), female chimps are silent while mating. It's only when they're having sex with high-status males that they advertise that fact vocally. Perhaps the Budongo Forest of Uganda is more like Hollywood or New York than anyone realized? [NY Times] More »