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Planet of the Chatty Apes
Planet of the Chatty Apes
Planet of the Chatty Apes: How I made a talking chimpanzee jealous
by Jim Giorgi
In 2002, when I was working with a previous incarnation of the soap company in which I am now a partner, my business partner, Kaylin, mentioned to me that one of the customers of our nontoxic soap was the laboratory of the Language Research Center at Georgia State University in Atlanta. They were using our soap to clean the lab and living quarters of the Bonobo Chimpanzees with whom they were doing anthropological research in the development of language and speech in primates. One of the researchers, Holly, had heard of our soap and because it was so effective and yet still totally nontoxic, she wanted the safest product possible to use with the chimps in their living and working quarters. Kaylin told me that Holly had called to say that they were about to run out of soap and needed to order more. It happened that I was going to be driving to New York via Atlanta in a couple of days, and Kaylin suggested that I could drop off the soap directly to Holly instead of having it shipped up to her. I readily agreed.
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The work being done at LRC was some of the most fascinating I had heard of. They were studying language acquisition by Bonobo Chimpanzees. This was not the typical research that I had read about back in the early ‘70s, where chimpanzees were taught to use symbolic plastic tokens or American Sign Language to communicate with humans. The chimps at the LRC, in particular a large male chimp named “Kanzi”, were actually producing vocalizations that approximated English words and were using these words to have meaningful conversations with the researchers. It was not mere mimicking, as with a parrot, but was true “two-way” verbal communication. I amusedly recalled the line from the song in the movie “Doctor Doolittle”: “If I could talk to the animals, just imagine it, chatting with a chimp in chimpanzee.” Here was a chimpanzee chatting with humans in “humanese”. Fascinating, indeed.
I called Holly to introduce myself and let her know that I would be in the area. We had a very nice conversation during which she described the research being done. She informed me that for a good portion of each week, she actually lived with the chimps as a caretaker, cooking and eating with them. She mentioned that they particularly liked macaroni and cheese, and would help her prepare the food cooked for dinner. They would clean up the kitchen together, using our soap, the chimps actually taking spray bottle in one hand and a rag in the other and wiping up the counters. Wow, I thought, what a great commercial THAT would make...”Cleaning is so easy, even a chimp can do it!” I made arrangements with Holly to deliver the soap.
During our conversation, Holly revealed that Kaylin had mentioned to her that I was an aikido practitioner and instructor. She said that one of the chimps at the LRC had lived previously for several years at a similar research institute in Japan, and that while he was there he was exposed to some martial arts activities that the researchers were engaged in. She said that they were always looking for novel activities to expose the chimps to in order to stimulate language and cognitive development, and asked if I would be willing to visit the center to do an aikido demonstration of sorts to see if the chimp from Japan would recognize any of the techniques and perhaps want to “share” that sort of activity with the other chimps. This conversation was becoming more bizarre by the moment. I couldn’t imagine how we had progressed from a simple product delivery to my doing an aikido demonstrations to a group of talking apes.
I told Holly that my primary purpose for stopping in the Atlanta area was to teach at an aikido school within our association that was owned by a friend and student of mine. So Holly invited me to meet Kanzi and the other “talking chimps” when I made the delivery, and I jumped at the opportunity. She said that during the first visit, she would simply introduce me to the chimps so as to see if they would feel comfortable with me (they apparently were wary of strangers). Then, if they “approved” of me, I would return another day to actually do the aikido demonstration. We made an appointment for my visit the morning after I taught class at my friend’s school.
When I arrived in the Atlanta area I received a call from Holly, telling me that my invitation to meet Kanzi and the other talking chimps would need to be postponed, because that same day they were informed that they would be having an unscheduled visit from Paul McCartney, who was a long time and staunch supporter of Chimpanzee preservation and research. Paul apparently liked his visits to be private, and so, not having celebrity status myself, my visit was pre-empted. Holly and I met for lunch at a nearby restaurant where I gave her the soap she ordered. We conversed about the chimps and aikido, and she assured me that I would be welcome for a visit in the near future.
I left Georgia for New York, and did not return for several months. During that time I remained in occasional touch with Holly, hearing the latest news about Kanzi and his “family”, and their adventures. Just before my next trip there, I called Holly to ask if there would be an opportunity as I was passing through Atlanta to reschedule my visit, and she replied in the affirmative. Cool, I thought, I’m finally going to get a chance to talk to the apes. I told her that I would again be teaching at my friend’s aikido school, and invited her to observe the class, which interested her and she agreed to. She also mentioned that the day before my visit, she was going to be having some major dental surgery done, involving breaking and resetting her jaw with all sorts of complicated dental implements and wires and braces being left in her mouth. It was going to be an intricate and complex procedure and she mentioned that it would cost about $5000.
On the appointed day, I arrived in Atlanta and went directly to the LRC. Holly met me at the entrance and obtained a visitor’s pass, and we went inside. Although I had assumed that I would actually be introduced to the chimps face-to-face, Holly said that that would be impossible because the chimps could be unpredictable, and if they took exception to a visitor, they might physically assault him or her. In fact, she said that even the researchers themselves were not immune, and several of them were missing a finger or two because one of the chimps became upset about some perceived slight and retaliated by biting off a finger. I readily concurred that I did not want to chance losing one of my digits to some ape’s bad temper, and contented myself with observing them from the outside of the large caged enclosure that surrounded the building in which they were housed.
Holly brought me to the cage and warned me to keep a cautious distance, because the chimps have been known to reach through the bars to pull unsuspecting visitors in close and then hit or bite them before being chased away by the researchers. Kanzi was sitting several yards away from the fence, relaxing with his back to me. The female adult chimps were inside the building and did not come out into the outdoor enclosure. Apparently, they were “shy”, as Holly put it. Holly called to Kanzi to come over to meet me, but Kanzi sat unperturbed and apathetic, and did not even acknowledge my presence. However, a couple of the baby chimps ran over to where we stood and jumped up clinging to the fence about 8 feet off the ground. Holly warned me to keep my distance, as even the babies were quite strong and could be mischievous with strangers. Holly introduced me and I began talking to them as though I were talking to a baby, “hello, I am Jim...Jim. Holly friend.” They made some vocalizations but nothing intelligible. Holly said that they were just beginning to learn verbal responses, and that in fact the younger chimps were learning at a faster rate than the older ones like Kanzi, as though it was a case of accelerated evolution. As she spoke, one of the chimps (they were both males) let loose with a stream of urine directed right at me. I was looking at them as Holly was speaking and so saw it coming and reflexively jumped backward, just missing being hit by the stream. Both chimps began to laugh uncontrollably and the other immediately let loose with a stream of his own toward the spot to which I had jumped to avoid the first. I quickly backpedaled, and again barely avoided being sprayed. Holly smiled wryly and said “I TOLD you they could be mischievous”.
That incident pretty much ended my visit. Holly said that she did not want to disrupt their routine too much with my visit. I noticed that Kanzi was still sitting nonchalantly in the same spot, occasionally looking over his shoulder in my direction, but not making any sign of acknowledgement at all. Apparently he was just feeling unsociable that day. I was disappointed, because I knew that of all the chimps there, he was the one with the most advanced linguistic skill. As funny as it sounds, I had very much wanted to have a conversation with him. After all, how many people can brag that they had an intelligent conversation with an ape?
As I left, I asked Holly if she was still interested in observing the aikido class and also mentioned that I and many of the participants in the class would be going to a local sushi restaurant after class for dinner, and invited her to both events. She said that she needed to remain with the chimps until after the class would be finished, but that, despite the dental surgery she had just undergone the day before, she would love to join us for dinner. She said she actually was interested in trying out the study of aikido once her jaw had healed and wanted the opportunity to see the school and meet my friend who was the chief instructor there. But, there was a catch. She said that before she committed to going out to dinner, she would have to speak with the chimps and ask them permission to leave, since this was one of the nights of the week she spent with them. She was obligated to ask them if they would be comfortable with her leaving for a few hours for a “dinner out” with a stranger. Although I thought this rather odd, I told Holly that I understood and would await her call to let me know if she would be joining us or not. With that, I thanked her profusely for the opportunity to visit the LRC, called out my goodbyes to all its primate denizens (including those two naughty chimps who tried to pee on me), and left for the aikido school.
I taught the class and we went over to the restaurant, but I still had not heard from Holly. Just after we were seated, she called to tell me that, yes, she would be coming, but that she had been delayed because of an incident that she would explain when she arrived. We delayed our orders by indulging in some sake and spirited conversation, and my recounting my adventure at the LRC. Holly arrived about 20 minutes later, and sitting down with us at the table, proceeded to tell us why she had been delayed.
Shortly after my leaving, Holly visited the chimps in the compound to discuss their feelings about her being out for dinner for a couple of hours. The chimps seemed to be comfortable with that, though they asked her to be back before 11 p.m. so that she would be with them for the bulk of the night. Everyone was comfortable, that is, except Kanzi, who maintained his distance from the group and, although it was apparent that he heard everything that was being discussed, he did not respond nor did he make eye contact. When Holly called to him and asked him specifically if he had heard what she was proposing and how he felt about it, he gave what seemed to be a grudging vocalization of assent, but again assumed an attitude of apathetic detachment. Holly went about her business for the remainder of the time leading up to her departure, and then changed her attire for an evening “out”.
Just before she was leaving, she went to the bars of the cage to say goodbye to the chimps and reassure them that she would return in a timely manner. The chimps, including Kanzi this time, gathered around the bars near Holly as she made her farewells. She was standing close to the bars so as to be able to touch and hug them goodbye. As she was finishing and about to turn and leave, Kanzi, who did not respond to her proffers of physical contact, reached through the bars with his arm and took a powerful swipe at her head.
Holly reflexively lurched backward and turned her head away from the blow, and Kanzi’s hand grazed her cheek and jaw, just barely avoiding destroying her jaw and the $5000 worth of dental work that she had just undergone. Apparently, Kanzi immediately regretted his impulsive action, because as Holly turned back to him in shock and dismay, he immediately assumed a pained and guilty look on his face and uttered repeatedly in his high-pitched, squealing voice “I sorry, I sorry, I sorry....” Holly was understandably and justifiably stunned and upset with Kanzi, and from a safe distance turned to him and angrily chastised him for his impulsive act of aggression. She asked him why he would possibly want to try to hit her.
The reply she received was nothing short of astounding to me when I heard it. Apparently, Kanzi’s detached attitude during my visit was a reaction to my being invited and accompanied by Holly. He mistakenly assumed that I was Holly’s new boyfriend, and that I was being introduced as such, and that my presence implied that Holly was no longer exclusively “his girl”. In short, he was jealous, and in a jealous “rage” retaliated in the only way he knew how
Holly solemnly asserted that she was fortunate that her reaction was so quick. Chimpanzees are estimated to be between 4 and 5 times stronger than humans. If Kanzi’s swipe had really connected, not only would $5000 of her dental work have been destroyed, the force of his blow could have fractured her skull or snapped her neck. She was fully cognizant of how lucky she truly was. I also realized how lucky I was that I was not allowed into the compound, because I am sure that if Kanzi, while he was fuming that I was with Holly, had the opportunity to (literally) get a piece of me, he would have taken it without any qualms and over my futile resistance. I looked at all of my ten still-intact digits, thanked my lucky stars, and had another shot of sake.
Although I did see Holly again on my next visit to Atlanta, I never again had the opportunity to visit the chimps. Since that time, I have heard that Kanzi and some of the other chimps that were there have moved to research institutes in other parts of the country, and I lost touch with Holly several years ago. But I will always remember how I narrowly escaped being the brunt of the jealous rage of a loquacious but impulsive ape who was just a little too intelligent for my own good.
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