Natural World: The Chimpcam Project (27th January 2010, BBC2)

Chimps are alarmingly clever. Every time we humans think up some defining factor that is supposed to separate us from the animals, we discover they’ve actually been doing it all along. Using tools? Yep. Communication? Yep. Recognising themselves in the mirror and, by extension, having a concept of self versus ‘other’? Yep. Making their own films? Well, ok, maybe not quite, just yet. Despite how the programme was billed, the chimps never seem to actually understand what they are doing when they are carrying a recording video camera (in a highly durable case) around their enclosure.


But, in spite of this, scientist Betsy Herrelko’s attempts to get them to interact with the camera and screen throw up many interesting examples of their intelligence. Despite being adults who have never taken part in research before, they quickly learn how to use a touch screen, to click on and select icons in the form of large red circles. They appear deeply interested when shown footage of other chimps, and when they are given the video camera, they touch its inbuilt screen as though making the connection with the touch screens they have already experienced.

It’s all very humbling. The chimps’ deeply expressive faces clearly show their intelligence and curiosity, making it clear that we humans are not quite so special as we like to think. For me, the most telling part was when the scientists opened up the doors to the ‘research pods’, small rooms off the chimps’ impressive enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo, where they could observe them interacting with the screens and other tests. They were uncertain at first whether the chimps would actually leave their outdoor climbing frames to come into these small rooms. But as soon as they were opened, the chimps had to explore, and they seemed genuinely interested in all the games and diversions inside. It was clear that the scientists could never have got any research done at all, if it weren’t for an equally strong desire in their chimp subjects to ‘research’ every new experience they came across, including the humans themselves.