Famous Bonobo Kanzi Could Tell Real From Pretend

A famous bonobo named Kanzi could tell the difference between real juice and pretend juice, proving that at least some apes can imagine things that aren't actually there.

Researcher Amalia Bastos got her first clue when she met Kanzi in 2023 at the Ape Cognition and Conservation Initiative in Iowa. The bonobo used his symbol keyboard to ask Bastos and another scientist to chase and tickle each other, then watched their pretend performance with obvious delight.

That encounter sparked a question: Could Kanzi actually understand the concept of pretending? Bastos, then joining Johns Hopkins University, designed an experiment based on 1980s child psychology research to find out.

The test was simple but clever. Researchers showed Kanzi two empty transparent cups and an empty jug, then pretended to pour juice into both cups. They "poured out" one cup and asked Kanzi where the juice was.

If Kanzi had no concept of pretend objects, his answers would be random guesses. Instead, he correctly pointed to the cup that still had imaginary juice more often than chance would predict. He did the same with pretend grapes.

When offered a choice between real and imaginary juice, Kanzi picked the real thing every time. The juice lover knew exactly what was real and what was make believe.

The findings, published in the journal Science, suggest bonobos have imagination. "We are not the only animals with rich mental lives that can extend beyond the here and now," says Christopher Krupenye, the study's senior author and an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins.

The discovery aligns with observations of wild chimps. Female chimpanzees have been seen cradling sticks like baby dolls, and one captive chimp appeared to drag an invisible toy across the floor just like he played with real wooden blocks.

Why This Inspires

This research matters beyond understanding one remarkable bonobo. It reveals that the boundary between human and animal minds may be less clear than we once thought. The capacity to imagine, to think about things that aren't physically present, has long been considered uniquely human.

Some scientists remain cautious about the interpretation. Daniel Povinelli from the University of Louisiana suggests Kanzi might have just been tracking which cup the researcher touched rather than truly understanding imaginary objects. But the study's authors believe the evidence points to genuine imagination.

Sadly, future studies won't include Kanzi himself. He died in 2024 at age 44. But his legacy lives on in what he taught us about the minds of our closest relatives.

The research also brings attention to bonobos as an endangered species. Understanding their cognitive abilities may help fuel conservation efforts and deepen our appreciation for these remarkable animals.

Krupenye hopes the discovery will spark more research into which animals share imaginative capacities with humans and what that means for how we understand consciousness itself.