Kanzi demonstrates how much he has learnt in his video. He walks off to gather tiny branches for kindling, which he returns to his campground fireplace quietly and carefully. He pulls a match from the box, strikes it, and lights his fire once he is sure that he has enough fuel.
Then he threads marsh-mellows onto one end of a stick and holds them in the flames while keeping a safe distance from the fire.
When he’s finished, he checks the burnt marsh-mellows to make sure they’re not too hot before eating them right off the stick. Why can’t we all be a little more like Kanzi? Making a fire, roasting marshmallows, and chilling are all that is required.
You will be impressed by his sense of purpose as he completes this difficult task, as well as the satisfied, almost smug grin on his face. This is one intelligent monkey, and you have to respect his intellect while still wondering where it will all go.
Kanzi has been a passionate learner for almost two decades and has acquired a wide range of skills. He learnt to build stone swords by pounding rocks together to sharpen them, a skill he honed during a study in which he was given a rope that couldn’t be pulled and food inside a box. Kanzi created a blade and used it to cut the rope!
He also learnt how to play Pac-Man and can interact with a few hundred people. He knows over 5,000 words and can play Pac-Man (on a lexigram and sign language). He’s already shown that he’s passing on his skills to his kid Teco (who has been getting raised by both humans and apes as his mother abandoned him). Teco’s baby is already showing symptoms of autism, which is common for humans, and Kanzi’s keeper believes Teco will surpass his father.
