Chimpanzees Would Cook if Given the Chance

Chimpanzees have the cognitive ability to cook, according to new research, if only someone would give them ovens.  It’s not that the animals are ready to go head-to-head with Gordon Ramsay, but scientists from Harvard and Yale found that chimps have the patience and foresight to resist eating raw food and to place it in a device meant to appear, at least to the chimps, to cook it.

http://tinyurl.com/qhb958z

Watch Lions, Tigers, Chimps, and Beagles Get Their First Taste of Freedom

From foxes feeling a grass field to beagles finally able to chase tennis balls, animals released from cages have unique ways of showing their joy. Thanks to a new animal-release supercut from The Dodo, we can see lions, tigers, chimpanzees, seals, rabbits, and even chickens stretch their legs, wings, and tails in their newfound environment outside cages and laboratory facilities.  “Huge-hearted humans dedicate their lives to rescuing, rehabilitating, and releasing injured animals to sanctuaries and the wild,” Emily Pelleymounter, The Dodo’s video producer, said in a statement. “And that moment when an animal gets his first taste of real freedom? It is unforgettable for animals and humans alike.”

http://tinyurl.com/lpa3wm5

Baboons aren't the only clever animals

French researchers reported this week that they had trained six baboons to read — or at least to scan a string of four letters and determine when they form a word and when they don’t.  The experiment, which was reported Thursday in the journal Science, cements baboons’ place among an ever-growing menagerie of clever animals.

http://tinyurl.com/84h49fy