Chimpanzees’ Task Performance Changes When Observed by Humans
A new study finds that chimpanzees, like humans, are affected by being watched: their performance on computer tasks improved on difficult tasks with larger human audiences but declined on simpler ones. This phenomenon, the “audience effect,” was previously thought to be unique to humans.
For decades Achille, 50, lived alone in wretched conditions in a cramped circus cage. But better days could lie ahead for the chimpanzee and almost 150 great apes in Spain, who stand to benefit from a pioneering bill that would strengthen laws safeguarding their well-being.
26 chimpanzees remain imprisoned at the Alamogordo Primate Facility, where they endured years of cruel experimentation. Though the National Institutes of Health ended invasive research on chimps almost a decade ago, these survivors have yet to experience the peace and sanctuary they deserve.
The study, which is the result of analyzing conversations of various groups of chimpanzees in the wild in Africa for over 15 years, confirms that our evolutionary relatives also engage in rapid turn-taking in their conversations, mainly involving gestures.
Peter Singer announces support for the Great Apes Law in Spain
Philosopher Peter Singer, one of the founders of the Great Ape Project, announced his support for the Law. "The Great Ape Project Spain has been working for many years to improve the legal situation of great apes in Spain, and is supporting this legislation as the best achievable."
Africa: Snare removal program supports chimpanzee conservation
Wild chimpanzees are caught in snares set for other animals and can be seriously injured, compromising their survival and behavior and posing a threat. A study shows how important the removal of snares is for their conservation.
News about great apes using plants for medicinal treatments has been reported before. This past week one more was released: a team observing the behavior of chimpanzees in Uganda identified the search for antibacterial plants for self-medication purposes.
Book review – “Trauma in Sentient Beings: Nature, Nurture and Nim” ( by Antonina Anna Scarná and Robert Ingersoll – 2024)
In "Trauma in Sentient Beings", the authors expand on their argument that the language research had traumatic impacts on both the chimpanzees and their human researcher-carers, and moreover that such impacts apply to all chimpanzees held in captivity.
Pedro Pozas affirms: My intention with this book is to contribute to the fight to end aggression against non-human hominids, recognize their rights, protect their populations in the wild, equally defend their habitat and the local human populations that coexist with them, and end their captivity.
United States: 26 chimpanzees still await transfer to sanctuary trapped in laboratory
A large number of chimpanzees was used in laboratories in the USA from the 1930s until 2015, when the US FDA finally announced the end of the practice in the country. Then this question arose: What to do with the surviving chimpanzees? The most sensible answer: to relocate them to sanctuaries.
Katai and Sansão: orangutans in captivity in Brazil
Female orangutan Katai is the only resident of the species in a sanctuary in Brazil. Sansão lives alone in the São Paulo zoo for years. A lawsuit requests Sansão to be transferred to the sanctuary, aiming to improve both orangutan’s quality of life.
The price of modernity can be high for our evolutionary relatives
A study shows that the rapid growth of clean energy technologies is leading to increased demand for mining on the African continent, jeopardizing the well-being and survival of great apes in the wild.
Throughout her life in the circus, Lucy gave birth to several children, but had no chance of becoming a mother. The babies were snatched from her on the day they were born, probably to be sold.
The Brazilian sanctuary where Toti, the sad-looking chimpanzee, can be transferred
Located in Sorocaba, 100 km from São Paulo, it has a total area of five hectares and 14 complexes in a forest area; since 2017, it houses the chimpanzee Cecilia, transferred from the Mendoza Zoo in Argentina.
Elena Liberatori, the judge who made history with the case of orangutan Sandra
Pedro Pozas Terrados, from GAP Spain, spoke to Judge Elena Liberatori, who in Argentina declared the orangutan Sandra, who lived alone in Buenos Aires Zoo, a "non-human person" and therefore with acquired rights. Sandra currently lives at the Center for Great Apes in Florida, USA.
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