Smart chimpanzee imitates people cleaning room in NE China

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01:15

A video clip recently captured the scene of a chimpanzee learning from breeders how to clean her own enclosure with a broom in a zoo in Shenyang City, northeast China's Liaoning Province.

According to a study from Lund University in 2017, zoo chimpanzees can imitate common actions of zoo visitors, such as hand clapping and knocking on windows, which shows their natural ability to imitate.

A female eastern chimpanzee. /VCG Photo

"One day we found she stared at us cleaning and then we observed that she imitated us to clean the room with a broom seriously. She even cleaned the corners carefully," said Wang Jingjing, a breeder with the zoo.

To match the height of the broom, she bent over and slightly adjusted her knees to clean. Even the tree leaves in the corners were swept into an empty yogurt box.

An eastern chimpanzee infant. /VCG Photo

"There are dried leaves in the pavilion of primates, which were collected after the fall. First, we want to imitate its living environment in the wild and second the tree leaves can help reduce the odor inside," Wang said.

The chimpanzees are smart with a strong ability to use tools. The IQ of the 18-year-old chimpanzee equals that of a four-year-old child of humans. Banana and corns are her favorite food, and the breeders would deliberately place food under leaves or other things to encourage her to find by herself.