A YouTuber named ChrisDaCow has achieved a remarkable feat: he taught a bonobo named Kanzi how to play Minecraft, one of the most popular video games in the world. Bonobos are a species of great ape closely related to chimpanzees.
In a 23-minute video posted on his channel, ChrisDaCow shows how he introduced Kanzi to the basics of Minecraft, such as breaking blocks, crafting tools, and building structures.
Kanzi is not an ordinary bonobo. He is one of the most intelligent and linguistically advanced primates in the world. He can communicate with humans using a lexigram board, a device that displays symbols representing words. He can also understand spoken English and use tools.
Kanzi lives at the Ape Initiative, a non-profit research facility in Iowa, USA that is dedicated to the study and conservation of bonobos, the closest living relatives of humans. The facility provides Kanzi and other bonobos with various enrichment activities, such as painting, music, and games.
ChrisDaCow said he wanted to teach Kanzi how to play Minecraft as a way of raising awareness and funds for the Ape Initiative. He also said he was curious about how Kanzi would interact with the virtual world and express his creativity.
The video has gone viral, attracting over 2.6 million views and 178,000 likes in just eight days.
ChrisDaCow said he plans to make a part two of the video if he reaches his donation goal of $10,000 for the Ape Initiative. You can watch his full video here:
You can also find out more about Kanzi the bonobo here: https://www.apeinitiative.org/kanzi.
Image: ChrisDaCow YouTube
