In which Kanzi learns to play make-believe

One generally imagines other members of the animal kingdom, even the ones that fly, to be a little more grounded than humans. After all, storks probably do not tell their chicks that they hatched from eggs delivered by a man in a truck. But what if animals did have the power of make-believe? What might they imagine, and what purpose would it serve — escape, solace, companionship? It may not be a binary; the power of imagination could conceivably exist somewhere on a continuum, like animal communication in relation to human language, and other questions of cognition. For instance, several animals can pass the mirror test — recognising one’s own reflection — but not always. Research shows that about 75 per cent of young adult chimpanzees can pass.

The bonobo is another great ape that has passed the mirror test. And now, an article published in Science has presented evidence that they can play make-believe games, too. It is based on work with one bonobo, Kanzi, who has since died. When scientists pretended to fill two cups from an empty jug, and then poured the imaginary contents of one cup back into the jug, Kanzi was able to identify which cup still contained “juice”. He could also differentiate between cups with real and imaginary juice.

There are caveats, such as the fact that these tests were done with an ape trained to communicate with humans. However, this does indicate that the capacity for some level of imagination exists in bonobos — among humans’ closest relatives, and also known for their complex, matriarchal social organisation. If that power is strong enough, and accompanied by a little flexibility with the truth, it might not be wrong to call them political animals.