About five months ago, a chimpanzee in a Netherlands zoo used a stick to bring down a drone, much to the dismay of the TV crew that was filming the animals. Scientists analyzed the seemingly random flailing attack of the chimp and found that it may not have been random at all.
WHAT WAS THE DRONE DOING IN THE ZOO?
On April 10, 2015 a TV crew used a camera-equipped drone to film a chimpanzee colony in the Royal Burgers Zoo, in Arnhem, The Netherlands. They intended to obtain aerial as well as close footage of chimpanzees and their enclosures. Using unusual angles for the video shoot, this drone-captured film was planned to be introduced in a public relations documentary. When the drone came closer to the chimpanzees being observed, it caught the attention of several of them, who grabbed willow twigs off the ground. Some of them even climbed up to the scaffolding where the drone was hovered.
THE CHIMPANZEE DRONE ATTACK
In an analysis of the drone attack published in the journal Primates, the scientists note that such reactions to the presence of drones are not often seen in chimps. But, what happened next was utterly unexpected: when the drone zoomed in on two female chimpanzees Tushi and Raimee who were on the scaffold, Tushi made two long sweeping gestures with about a 6 feet-long twig she was holding. Unsuccessful in the first attempt, she was able to knock down and break the drone on her second try. Tushi’s face was tense with her teeth bared during the attack, but she showed no trace of fear.
CHIMPANZEE DRONE ATTACK WAS PERFECTLY PLANNED AND EXECUTED
Spontaneous and adaptive use of tools in this case, a stick isn’t new to chimpanzees. In fact, a study witnessed 13 types of tool-use in this particular colony of chimps. The scientists believe that Tushi’s planned used of the stick represents a deliberate attempt to attack the drone and not just a reflexive response to it. Her facial grimace during the attack and the precise strikes with the stick show assertion and dominance, not fear or even curiosity. This drone attack depicts how behaviorally fluid chimpanzees are. Danger doesn’t faze them; instead, they show sophisticated planning and execution of attack when faced with harm.
