31 October 2006
In the early 1970's, a chimpanzee named Washoe was taught to communicate in American Sign Language (ASL) by Beatrix and Allen Gardner at the University of Nevada in Reno.
She was immersed in an environment where she learned to use ASL in daily interactions with her human companions. Washoe learned 132 different words in her time with the Gardners. In time since, four other chimps have also been taught to sign. These five chimps, who consider themselves a family, now use many more signs than they were ever expected to learn (Washoe herself can use up to 240 reliable signs), and sign not only to the humans, but also to each other to communicate.
Washoe even taught her own adopted son, Loulis, to sign without human intervention.
They can invent new signs and combine signs to metaphorically express something different, for example: calling a radish "cry hurt food" or referring to a watermelon as a "drink fruit". They can comprehend and produce novel prepositional phrases, understand vocal English, translate words into ASL and even transmit their signing skills to the next generation without human intervention!
Scientists estimate that there are between 80,000 and 130,000 chimpanzees left in the entire world. These populations have been reduced and fragmented by human interference in their habitats. Conservation efforts that prohibit the hunting and sale of chimpanzees provide some protection; however, these bans are difficult to enforce.
