It could almost be a scene from a school playground. But the youngsters playing tag are gorillas, not children.Yeah, sure. Wait until they evolve the terrified-of-lawyers headmistress gorilla, then we'll see just how 'humanlike' they are.
Cheeky apes sneak up on their rivals, clip them round the head and then run away as fast as they can, researchers have found.
The ‘hit and run’ attacks often lead to full-scale games of tag, in which the animals take turns to chase each other around their cages.
The astonishing discovery shows once again how similar great apes are to people...
Let's hope for their sake, that's a long time coming...
Anthropomorphism is not a word that rolls off their tongues is it?
ReplyDeletePerhaps we should introduce a couple of the big cats into the mix, so they can also enjoy the game of 'tag'.
Multiculturalism can be extended to the animal kingdom, surely?
I just can't imagine gorillas being forced to wear goggles before they are allowed to play conkers.
ReplyDeleteYet.
LOL. They really struggle to get the goggles on Mark - once they have put on their welding gloves to protect their knuckles.
ReplyDeleteI was alone in the house one day, reading in my bedroom. Then I started to hear a tap-tap-tap-tap (pause) tap-tap-tap-tap over and over.
ReplyDeleteSomewhat worried as to what was going on (a housebreaker? a leak?) I got up and fearfully tiptoed towards the sound. It was coming from downstairs. I crept down a few stairs and peered over the banisters to the tiled corridor below.
I then saw an astonishing sight. Into view came the cat tearing along the corridor with the dog trotting after her. When they reached the end of the corridor they turned around and the dog trotted back to the other end with the cat doing the chasing. The tapping noise was the dog's claws on the tiles.
I never saw them doing this when there were people in the house (the cat and dog probably thought they were alone.)
I do wish they'd just leave kids to grow up and be kids rather than politically correct footballs. The gorilla play is a brilliant example of nature in action, the headmistress is an example of socio-liberal policies denying humanities sense of fun and play.
ReplyDeleteProblem is, we let them get away with it.
"New discovery"?
ReplyDeleteWe had a BBC documentary (We get a lot of them here) about seven years ago, that showed JUST this, and it was well known THEN.
Mybe they should tryi "lowering" themselves and talk to the bloody keepers once in a while.
There's a video on YouTube somewhere of a monkey teasing two tiger cubs. The money would pull their ears or tail then shoot up a tree, out of reach.
ReplyDeleteMakes most human 'dangerous sports' look a bit tame.
"Multiculturalism can be extended to the animal kingdom, surely?"
ReplyDeleteIt'd increase the visitor numbers too!
"I just can't imagine gorillas being forced to wear goggles before they are allowed to play conkers.
Yet."
It's surely coming, though...
"I never saw them doing this when there were people in the house..."
And here I always thought they just slept!
""New discovery"?"
It's the 'Mail'. They don't get out much...
"Makes most human 'dangerous sports' look a bit tame."
Heh! Yes, I think I've seen that one...