About science uncle monkey shooting

A Chinese newspaper reported that the Taliban taught monkeys how to fire guns at American soldiers in Afghanistan, but an American scientist said the monkeys were not smart enough to be able to use guns.

Macaque monkeys.Photo: zimbio.com .

In a recent article, People Daily quoted a number of sources in the US military and many British journalists, saying the Taliban force captured baboons and macaque monkeys to train them to fire. AK-47s, light machine guns and mortars are included in the training program. The monkeys shot only at people wearing uniforms of American soldiers and NATO soldiers.

Livescience reported that a NATO spokesman doubted the story. William Mason, an expert at the University of California in the US and has studied the social life of primates for many years, has the same view.

"One can teach monkeys to turn on a light switch, turn on the tap and many other simple operations. But it is true that the story of a monkey carrying AK-47 guns on the battlefield is incredible , " Mason said.

Monkeys can mimic people watching and squeezing the trigger, but Mason insists they are not smart enough to be able to shoot at certain targets on the battlefield.

In the history of mankind used many animals to serve the war. They can attack enemies (bees), transport goods and soldiers (elephants, camels and horses), patrol the sea (sea lions), bombs (bats). However, according to Mason, we cannot train chimpanzees, orangutans or monkeys into warriors who can use guns and shoot people.

'We can train the monkey to wear explosives and run towards the enemy to bomb. But if you give monkey a complicated thing like a submachine gun and order them to shoot, they can't do it , 'Mason said.