Seven chimpanzees use ingenuity to escape their enclosure at the Kansas City Zoo

The animals climbed up a log they had placed against the wall, but are now back in captivity.

Seven chimpanzees use ingenuity to escape their enclosure at the Kansas City Zoo

It was clever chimpanzees.

That was zoo director Randy Wisthoff’s explanation for the unauthorized excursion that prompted a “Code Red” response among zoo employees, an hourlong lockdown of zoo visitors and finally a careful roundup.

“Chimps are so smart,” Wisthoff said.

One of them, he said, either found or broke off a 5- or 6-foot log or branch, leaned it against a wall and clambered to the top. Then that chimpanzee — the “ringleader,” Wisthoff called him — persuaded six friends to join him.

At one point, three of the seven chimps went over the wall into an area accessible only to zoo employees. Well before then, however, the zoo had activated its emergency protocols, which included gathering visitors into locked and secure areas.

At no time was the public in danger, Wisthoff said.

The breakout happened about 3:30 p.m., and it took about an hour for zookeepers to herd the animals, in groups of two or three, back into their enclosure.

The chimps were lured with fruit and greens such as carrots, celery and lettuce, their usual feed.

“It was almost their dinnertime already,” Wisthoff said.

But for the last reluctant animal, zookeepers brought out a bag of malted milk balls.

“That was the clincher,” Wisthoff said.

All employees were aware of the dangers the chimpanzees could have posed, Wisthoff said. Of the seven, the largest weighed about 150 pounds.

“They are tremendously strong,” he said.

On Friday, the 100-acre area normally occupied by 12 chimpanzees will be closed as employees check for security breaches.

Employees are careful to police the area and remove large branches, Wisthoff said. That made him wonder whether the log used Thursday had been broken off recently.

Here is the Evolution in action! Here is another link to the story in Time :
time.com...

We should learn from them, because we will be in cages soon enough too.

kookoos
We should learn from them, because we will be in cages soon enough too.

We already are, just a cage of a different scale.

Are we witnessing the rise of the apes? Is this how it starts....hmmm. We always knew that they were smart and I'm sure they are just getting tired of being caged up. It's not much different than our prisons, sooner or later they smarten up and find a way out.

rowdyrich
Are we witnessing the rise of the apes? Is this how it starts....hmmm. We always knew that they were smart and I'm sure they are just getting tired of being caged up. It's not much different than our prisons, sooner or later they smarten up and find a way out.

The Rise of the Planet of the Apes!

Tun tun tunnnnnnnn, Now the only question, is this Planet of the Apes the original or the remake...

I just wonder when we, homo sapiens sapiens, that is are finally going to recognize other species on our own planet as not only intelligent, but sentient.

Just because we do not speak their language or understand their culture ddoes not mean they do not have a society unlike our own. In this instance, a group of some of our closest genetic relatives acted in unison, obviously requiring rudimentary communication skills to accomplish a goal for the group that wasnt purely based on survival.

Non-human primates, cetaceans, and in the opinions of some (myself included) the octopus and squid which communicate by changing color and shape, sometimes depending on mood. I watch the crows outside my window after tossing them leftover food. One might see it but they dont immediately steal it for themselves. They hold a "crow court" and those that need it eat first.

Humans are so arrogant and some think we are alone in the universe as the only sentient, intelligent creatures when it surrounds us on our own planet. The sooner we all learn to get along through rudimentary contact and trust, maybe all species will learn the best qualities of what our innate Nature of being Life means. We are too busy building bombs and elephant leg umbrella stands, alas.

Well some animals are much smarter than we think.
Here is a video probably everyone has seen but it is fascinating.

yes .. they should put a TV in their enclosure .. force their brains into an alpha wave state .... then when their brains are in a state of 'awaiting programming' ... transmit a monkey equivalent of our 24 hour news ... complete with fear tactics to suppress and put them off trying to escape in future ... that should stop them from thinking for themselves, or at least accompany any thoughts of escape with overwhelming 'programmed' fear ... similar tactics seem to work on 'many' humans quite effectively

lol, chimps put a bit of wood against a fence to climb it and this is a sign of evolution, hmmm boy and the evolutionists think creationists grasp at straws, just wow.

So for every stupid thing a living creature does this must surely prove that we are de-evoloving, so at this rate of destroying the only planet we have to live on and the amount of innocent blood that is spilt daily, etc, etc, we are surely de-evolving at a rapid rate according to those in this thread.

arrogant indeed.

reply to post by iasenko


Good lord...

this is right up there with the Octopus crawling out of its tank, walking across the floor and into a neighboring tank so it could snack on the fish, returning to its own tank before staff arrived in the morning.

Either or I welcome our new Chimpanzee overlords.

Haxsaw
lol, chimps put a bit of wood against a fence to climb it and this is a sign of evolution, hmmm boy and the evolutionists think creationists grasp at straws, just wow.

So for every stupid thing a living creature does this must surely prove that we are de-evoloving, so at this rate of destroying the only planet we have to live on and the amount of innocent blood that is spilt daily, etc, etc, we are surely de-evolving at a rapid rate according to those in this thread.

arrogant indeed.

Your response does have the sense of arrogance.
Obviously you missed the point about sentience, awareness of the world around you and how you can interact with it and with others...I'll just leave it at that. This isn't a thread about a "stupid" act being proof of devolution or an act showing intelligence as proof of "evolution". And I hope it doesn't turn into such as that would be counterproductive to looking deeper into observational understanding of the creatures we share the planet with.

Segenam
yes .. they should put a TV in their enclosure .. force their brains into an alpha wave state .... then when their brains are in a state of 'awaiting programming' ... transmit a monkey equivalent of our 24 hour news ... complete with fear tactics to suppress and put them off trying to escape in future ... that should stop them from thinking for themselves, or at least accompany any thoughts of escape with overwhelming 'programmed' fear ... similar tactics seem to work on 'many' humans quite effectively

Better yet just turn on TLC (The Lowest Common Denominator channel).

They might get a kick out Honey Boo Boo, or midgets making cupcakes or Half ton fatties not putting down the fork...

(Maybe Haxsaw was onto something with that devolution thing )

the owlbear

Your response does have the sense of arrogance.
Obviously you missed the point about sentience, awareness of the world around you and how you can interact with it and with others...I'll just leave it at that. This isn't a thread about a "stupid" act being proof of devolution or an act showing intelligence as proof of "evolution". And I hope it doesn't turn into such as that would be counterproductive to looking deeper into observational understanding of the creatures we share the planet with.

The Op stated that this is a sign of evolution, are you the op, can you even read? are you now hijacking the thread or at minimum attempting to bypass what was stated in the op? now that definitely would be arrogant.

I never said anything about NOT observing animals and/or not understanding the animals we share the planet with. I have no problems with that, so I'll take the fact that you brought this to my attention as impertinent as the rest of your post. But thanks for the concern anyway. Carry on.

Haxsaw

the owlbear

Your response does have the sense of arrogance.
Obviously you missed the point about sentience, awareness of the world around you and how you can interact with it and with others...I'll just leave it at that. This isn't a thread about a "stupid" act being proof of devolution or an act showing intelligence as proof of "evolution". And I hope it doesn't turn into such as that would be counterproductive to looking deeper into observational understanding of the creatures we share the planet with.

The Op stated that this is a sign of evolution, are you the op, can you even read? are you now hijacking the thread or at minimum attempting to bypass what was stated in the op? now that definitely would be arrogant.

I never said anything about NOT observing animals and/or not understanding the animals we share the planet with. I have no problems with that, so I'll take the fact that you brought this to my attention as impertinent as the rest of your post. But thanks for the concern anyway. Carry on.

Inflammatory personal attacks will get you far in life.
I wrote that sentence which means I can obviously read. I am quite well-read, in fact. I am also obviously not the OP, nor can I, or you for that matter, speak for their beliefs. The line stated was "Evolution in action" and a link given to an article from Time.com. Other posters have equivocated the act of the chimps as akin to the Planet of the Apes, but you singled me out because I did not see the last sentence of the OP. Deepest apologies.

I was also not attempting to highjack this brilliant find by the OP. Merely, I was attempting to give my opinion, which you have disregarded in a way quite contradictory to the statement I was trying to make about all creatures trying to understand one another and perhaps gain a greater respect. I'm sorry you feel that this is impertinent.
And I hope you have a great weekend. Cheers.

reply to post by iasenko


To me this seems like a fairly easy and obvious use of a large and sturdy stick, and the only way to find this unusual is to surmise that chimps aren't smart and aware. Of course they are. The major institutions unaware of what chimps "are" are zoos who keep them locked in small enclosures and don't label these "prison cells". At a minimum zoos should have a prison consisting of several acres, many trees and a lake, and other items of what they call "enrichment".

The term, chimps and human should be switched in this scenario.

Maybe they should run for President.

There was an episode of Nature where they featured the honey badger. There was one being held at a rescue facility who escaped his enclosure by doing the same thing with a log. He also escaped by rolling rocks into the corner to use as a ladder.

Haxsaw
lol, chimps put a bit of wood against a fence to climb it and this is a sign of evolution, hmmm boy and the evolutionists think creationists grasp at straws, just wow.

So for every stupid thing a living creature does this must surely prove that we are de-evoloving, so at this rate of destroying the only planet we have to live on and the amount of innocent blood that is spilt daily, etc, etc, we are surely de-evolving at a rapid rate according to those in this thread.

arrogant indeed.

I don't think this proves anything about evolution, it just means that chimps are smart, the difference between chimps and humans is not so great as a lot of people have thought.

Also, evolution doesn't always lead to greater intelligence.

Zoos exist purely for selfish humans to watch animals in cages. Would we want to be in a cage? Chimps can master sign language. They should have human rights. Caging them clearly against their will for our enjoyment is selfish and disgusting behaviour.

Even as a kid I hated zoos. I cud never bear to see animals in cages.