The world is agog today with news that researchers in Africa have observed chimpanzees fashioning spears, and using the weapons to hunt and kill food.
Particularly interesting were these observations, reported in the Washington Post:
“The landmark observation also supports the long-debated proposition that females — the main makers and users of spears among the Senegalese chimps — tend to be the innovators and creative problem solvers in primate culture.”
However, perhaps less welcome was this description of exactly how these female use their “creative problem solving”. Describing how the female used the spear against a sleeping bushbaby, one researcher said:
“It was really alarming how forceful it was,” adding that it reminded her of the murderous shower scene in the Alfred Hitchcock movie “Psycho.” “It was kind of scary.”
‘Nuff said.
