Young great apes tease and annoy their elders in playful behaviour

Footage of great apes has revealed that humans are not the only ones to endure seemingly endless bouts of teasing dished out by their young ones who appear intent on pushing their luck.
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Recordings of chimps, orangutans, bonobos and gorillas found the animals to be masters of the dubious art, embarking on an impressive range of playful and occasionally somewhat aggressive acts ranging from the cheeky and plain silly to the fabulously irritating.

From 75 hours of footage taken at San Diego and Leipzig zoos, scientists documented 142 clear instances of great apes teasing their compadres, with most instigated by juveniles aged three to five years old.

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#Apes #Gorillas #Chimpanzees #Bonobos #Orangutans #News

16 comments
  1. What do you mean they don't know the reason for these behaviours? It's obviously playful learning in order to inquire about social behaviour. Mainly how to assert dominance over others. How to find your place in the group, etc.

    Human children do this, too.

  2. The people who care for nature, the people who care for the smallest of creatures, but More than 12,000 children have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza and these people don't care about that, it is not the eyes that are blind, but it is the hearts in the chests that grow blind.

  3. Let me help the "scientists". The kids are HAVING FUN! An alien concept for "scientists", I know, but it's not ROCKET science is it. 🤦

  4. It’s incredible that people have a difficult time believing we share a common ancestor with these guys. It’s really not that much of a stretch 🙈

  5. Really? They don't know? It's a desire to be able to influence. It's the same reason people do it. The more we can influence the less likely we are to be left to die by the tribe in winter.

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