IN THE 1920s Robert Yerkes acquired an unusual ape that he named Prince Chim. Chim was more intelligent, fun-loving, cooperative, emotionally positive and full of life than his chimpanzee companion, Panzee. Chim’s vocal behaviour was so prolific and reminiscent of language that Yerkes transcribed it using musical notation. Yerkes had discovered the bonobo.
In the 80s and 90s researchers conducted a study comparing a chimp and a bonobo. The aim was to determine if Yerkes’s observations were accurate and if either animal, or both, could learn a human language through cultural immersion rather than instruction. The answer for both apes…
