Chimpanzees share up to 99% of their DNA makeup with humans; thus, they have always held much fascination among humans who just could not believe the many impressive similarities that we share with the species.
But one chimp recently went viral, sparking debates across social media, after he was seen scrolling through the Instagram app like a pro. In fact, he appears to be more adept at using a touch-screen smartphone than a lot of humans!
The chimp is known as Sugriva, a family ‘pet’ of Myrtle Beach Safari founder Mahamayavi Bhagavan “Doc” Antle and his family. Doc’s son, Kody Antle, shared the video of Sugriva using the app and it sparked a rather intense debate on social media whether animals should really be exposed to technology like this chimp.
Set in a 50-acre wildlife reserve in South Carolina, Myrtle Beach Safari is home to many exotic animals, but it appears that Sugriva is living inside a human household as can de deduced from the background in the now viral video.
While a lot of netizens were greatly entertained by the video, animal experts were not happy.
Famed primatologist Jane Goodall worries that this could lead to the increase in the illegal trade in the wild, because more people would love to have a highly intelligent chimpanzee pet who can be trained to use a smartphone and use the internet!
Patricia Wright, also a primatologist at Stony Brook University, expressed concern about the dangers of the chimp being placed in a human household, especially with its exposure to the internet and modern gadgets.
“It’s worrisome to me that the chimp seems to be in a home, which is dangerous for people and also chimps. Chimps are very emotional creatures and we want to protect both the chimps and the humans,” Wright said.
Many primatologists point out that chimpanzees do exhibit a lot of human-like abilities, including the use of tools in the wild without seeing a similar device beforehand or enjoy puzzles and other activities for the pure purpose of having fun.
Still, this only highlights the fact that they should be protected because they could soon become extinct due to many different reasons, particularly the loss of their natural habitat.
But most netizens are simply impressed that this chimp is so good at using a smartphone! Impressive or not? Check out this video:
