Wild chimpanzees in Senegal have been filmed handing tools to their young, in what researchers think is a form of teaching, Smithsonian Magazine reports.
Cameras in the Dindefelo Community Nature Reserve recorded 33 tool transfers between 2017 and 2025, most of them sticks used to fish for ants, as well as tools for gathering algae and termites. Mothers made about 30% of the transfers to their offspring, and adults were the givers in most cases. In one clip a mother called Soukki introduces her daughter Saïsaï to ant-fishing; in another a young male shows an infant how to crack open a baobab fruit.
The study, led by Andreu Sánchez-Megías of the University of Barcelona and the Jane Goodall Institute Spain, was published in Frontiers in Psychology. It adds to evidence that chimp culture is passed down through generations, with the young learning by watching and being shown.
Source: Smithsonian Magazine