The Fire Making Monkey That Can Cook His Own Food (12 pics)

Kanzi, a 33-year-old ape residing at the The Great Ape Trust & Learning Center in Iowa, has already made headlines several times for his astonishing linguistic aptitude. But recently, it appears that the easygoing bonobo chimp also has developed a new interest – cooking.

“At age five he began making small piles of sticks and tried to light them. I had to keep a close eye on him, but I allowed it because he was clearly interested in practicing it. His demeanor when he focused on making fire was just like when he watched the movie. He seemed engrossed in it and it appeared that he associated making fires with watching the film.”

“Kanzi makes fire because he wants to. His fascination began when he was a child, watching the film ‘Quest for Fire’. The movie was released about a year after Kanzi was born and was about early man struggling to control fire. Kanzi watched this spellbound over and over hundreds of times.”