Run time: 08:07
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yul8VxYCIcw
Posted on YouTube: November 18, 2010
By YouTube Member: MOXNEWSd0tCOM
Views on YouTube: 264
Posted on DU: November 19, 2010
By DU Member: Turborama
Views on DU: 1345 |
Wow, Kanzi is one smart cookie. I love the way he nods his head to encourage Cooper to continue with what he's doing. I was in stitches when watching this yesterday.
On a much more serious note, the Bonobos are in serious trouble and hopefully this will help raise awareness of their plight.
http://www.bonobo.org/COOPER: Earlier in the week we showed you some really cool research involving dolphins that have a sense of self, can actually see themselves in a mirror, which is a rare trait among animals.
We continue our series "Amazing Animals: Smarter Than You Think" tonight with great apes called bonobos. They're known for being super smart. And when we heard about a place called the Great Ape Trust in Iowa, we knew we had to go there. It's home to some remarkable bonobos, one of the least known Great Apes. They're a close relative of humans. We share 98 percent of our DNA with them.
We read that these Great Apes can actually understand English and communicate with humans using the English language. Some scientists have cast doubt on these claims, so we wanted to see for ourselves. I really was not sure what to expect, but I could never have predicted how bizarre this visit would become.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): Meet Kanzi (ph) and his younger half- sister, Panbanisha (ph) (ph). They're bonobos, cousins to the chimpanzee and an endangered species. Kanzi (ph) and Panbanisha (ph) (ph) are also superstars in the world of science.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you happy, Kanzi (ph)?
COOPER: Some scientists believe they can understand spoken English and can communicate by pointing and gesturing.
DR. SUE SAVAGE-RUMBAUGH, GREAT APE TRUST: Let's show Sue peanuts.
COOPER: Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh discovered Kanzi's (ph) capabilities nearly three decades ago and since then has dedicated her life to studying how early and constant exposure impacts language development.
To do that, she's created a culture here at the Great Ape Trust in Des Moines, Iowa, that's both human and bonobo. She spends nearly 24 hours a day, seven days a week, interacting with the species.
SAVAGE-RUMBAUGH: It is truly a humbling experience, because I have throughout my life been like a skeptic. And for many years, even now, I have underestimated them.
Show me egg.
COOPER: As Kanzi (ph)'s language comprehension grew, so did this. It's called a lexigram board. Each lexigram represents a word: objects like Jell-o, ball; verbs like want and drink; and the abstract like good and bad, tomorrow and yesterday. There are 400 words on the board.
SAVAGE-RUMBAUGH: Can he touch your hand now, Kanzi (ph)?
COOPER: When I come face to face with Kanzi (ph) and Panbanisha (ph), we're separated by glass for my own safety. Bonobos are amazingly strong, at least five times more powerful than the average adult male.
SAVAGE-RUMBAUGH: He said, "Ball." Did you see him say "ball," Anderson?
COOPER (on camera): Yes.
SAVAGE-RUMBAUGH: You can ask him. If you didn't see it, you can ask him to say it again.
COOPER: What's ball?
SAVAGE-RUMBAUGH: Show him again.
COOPER: What's ball? That one.
(voice-over) Immediately Kanzi (ph) gets down to business.
(on camera) Am I going to look out there?
(voice-over) I've been told the bonobos had asked that I bring surprises when they learned I was coming to visit. They wanted, among other things, a ball and pine needles.
SAVAGE-RUMBAUGH: Are you ready? You ready? OK.
COOPER: Once Kanzi (ph) is content with his ball, Panbanisha (ph) points to pine needles on her lexigram board. And then things get, well, weird.
SAVAGE-RUMBAUGH: Panbanisha (ph), who's going to get the surprises? The bunny.
COOPER (on camera): Bunny?
SAVAGE-RUMBAUGH: The bunny is going to get the surprises. Did you know that, Anderson? The bunny is going to get the surprises.
COOPER: Who's the bunny?
SAVAGE-RUMBAUGH: Who's the bunny? Who should be the bunny? Bunny? It's you!
COOPER: I'm the bunny?
SAVAGE-RUMBAUGH: You are the bunny.
COOPER: How am I the bunny?
Wow.
(voice-over) Before I know it, I'm presented with a costume.
(on camera) You want me to dress up like the bunny? OK?
(voice-over) And I'm escorted off to go put it on. I wasn't sure if I should do this, but I remember the advice we were given before arriving: be laid back and see where it goes.
(on camera) Oh, a bib. The bunny has a bib. So apparently, one of the chimps, Panbanisha (ph), likes bunnies. And asked me to dress as a bunny, which was the big surprise, and get one of the presents that she had requested.
SAVAGE-RUMBAUGH: Hi, Mr. Bunny. COOPER (voice-over): Where did the bunny suit come from? Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh used to make video skits for Panbanisha (ph) and Kanzi (ph) as they grew up to help them learn language threw lexigrams.
SAVAGE-RUMBAUGH: I wonder what's in here, Panbanisha (ph).
COOPER: Turns out the bunny is Panbanisha (ph)'s favorite character from those video skits. That's why I'm now in this ridiculous costume.
(on camera) They wanted pine needles and eggs, green beans, string beans, and bread and ice. Should I bring this whole cart in?
This is pretty of the strangest assignment I've ever had. Nobody laugh.
Hello! Presents. I brought you presents. Surprises. Lots of surprises.
(voice-over) Among the surprises, lots of food. Something Kanzi (ph) is clearly interested in.
(on camera) What about this one?
SAVAGE-RUMBAUGH: What's that one, Kanzi (ph)? Bread?
COOPER: That's bread. And what are -- what are these?
SAVAGE-RUMBAUGH: What are those, Kanzi (ph)? Pine needles.
COOPER: Pine needles. That's right. Clearly, you know, some people will see this and say that you're projecting onto them, that you're interpreting things they say, and they make a sound and you say, "Oh, this means that." Is that a fair criticism?
SAVAGE-RUMBAUGH: It's a fair criticism until I can show what every single sound means. But it's not a fair criticism when it comes to the lexigrams. I can say the English word, and they can find a photo, even an odd photo they've never seen, and they can find the lexigram on their keyboard.
So while I haven't yet penetrated their sound system I have penetrated their cognitive system.
COOPER: And to take our understanding to the next level, Dr. Savage-Rumbaugh's turning to the next generation. Wow. Hey. Meet Kanzi (ph)'s 4-month-old son, Tiko (ph). He's the first bonobo to be exposed only to the language-speaking bonobos and everything human.
(on camera) He has his own iPad.
SAVAGE-RUMBAUGH: This is his favorite one, and this is the one that he first learned to activate.
COOPER: So you think, by being exposed to people from the earliest age and the culture of humans, that he actually may surpass the others in terms of his ability to communicate?
SAVAGE-RUMBAUGH: Yes. The others have been exposed to language, but not cub scouts, not going out to a restaurant.
COOPER: She doesn't want to divorce him from the bonobo world altogether but believes he could expand their world and give us humans a window into theirs.
That's only if we don't wipe them out first. Bonobos are found only in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where ongoing violence threatens their existence. Conservation International says there are only about 5,000 bonobos left in the wild.
SAVAGE-RUMBAUGH: We can solve a lot of things, a lot of puzzles about ourselves by looking at bonobos as they exist now. And if we wipe them out, those answers are lost to us forever.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, we have much more to show you about the bonobos at the Great Ape Trust. I eventually took off the bunny suit, much to my relief.
Next week we're going to have a special 360. We're going to dig deeper into the science behind these discoveries.
Up next -- oh, thank you. Appreciate it. Very nice. Very funny. Ha-ha. I've been having bunny jokes around the office for weeks now, so these carrots are -- appreciate it. Are the bunny jokes going to stop now? Is this the last night? No? No? I didn't think so.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
