BlogPaws West begins today, and I have a million and one things I need to get done, so just a quick post about this TIME magazine article about the minds of animals. Did you see it? It. Is. Fascinating!
My three favorite parts?
- Kanzi, a bonobo, wanted the journalist to have coffee with him. (Never mind the question about whether we should be giving an ape coffee).
- That when asked if he was ready to play after the reporter went to get his ball, Kanzi replied (by pointing at word/image flashcards) “Past ready.”
- That the bonobos studied in Iowa have learned to combine words/images (on flash cards) they know into unfamiliar concepts, like calling floods “big water.”
At some point, I want to write about “theory of mind” research and a dissertation I read recently that argues that dogs DO have a very basic “theory of mind,” which is a kind of intelligence and awareness, but we’ll have to save that for a day when I have more time and mental bandwidth.
Have a wonderful time @ BlogPaws- thanks for the links!