I wanna be like you-hoo-hoo! Chimps ape humans
JUST as King Louie sang in the film The Jungle Book, scientists say chimps at the zoo really DO want to be like you.
Swedish researchers noticed how zoo visitors liked to imitate chimpanzees, with clapping, head-slapping and armpitscratching among the more common gestures by humans.
After three weeks of secret observation, scientists found chimps were also aping the humans – pouting, bobbing their heads, and swaying.
In fact, researchers found the chimps were just as prolific imitators as humans who had come to view their antics.
They believe chimps could be attempting to communicate, even to show they are friendly.
Five chimps and visitors were observed over 21 days at Sweden’s Furuvik Zoo and Lund University, with the results of the study reported in the journal Primates.
Researcher Dr Gabriela-Alina Sauciuc said: ‘Our study is the first to systematically observe and investigate if zoo-housed chimpanzees imitated visitors.’