Orangutans and chimpanzees are far away

Orangutans and bonobos also plan for the future. The new discovery by scientists has put a question to the notion that people are the only creatures who think for tomorrow.

The German team found that these apes could choose a suitable tool for a favorite game, put it away and pull it back and use it for a few hours later.
Scientists from Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology said that planning for the future, not just the present, is one of the most important cognitive achievements of humans. That's because it takes a long time to delay before being able to do something and get rewarded.

The team has allowed dwarf chimpanzees and orangutans to choose tools to reach grapes or bottles of juice. In half of the selections, they took the right tool for each type, took it to the room and 14 hours later to use it to win the prize.

According to the researchers, both species exhibited this skill, showing that it evolved at least 14 million years ago, when all the adult apes had the same ancestor.

This is the first evidence published about the monkey who can store the tool for future use.

Bushy jays, living in the Americas, also have similar backup capabilities. They store food around the nest to reduce the risk of being stolen.

T. An