Whistling Orangutan

Reported November 2009

WASHINGTON D.C. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Many of us learned to whistle as a kid. It's a talent thought only humans could master … until now.

From elephants to zebras, everyone has a favorite zoo animal. Whatever is your favorite, there's one group of animals that always get a lot of attention … the orangutans.

They might look funny, but at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C., there's one very special orangutan -- Bonnie, who has a unique ability. She whistles.

The astonishing part of Bonnie's talent is traditionally orangutans copy physical behaviors and movements of humans after extensive training. Bonnie is different. Zoologists believe Bonnie taught herself by imitating sounds from whistling zookeepers. Her talent gives researchers clues to understanding the evolution of human speech in our closest relatives: apes.

To whistle, you need to control your mouth, lips, tongue and breathing. Researchers learned that Bonnie can produce new sounds orangutans don’t normally produce.

“We're very interested here about how apes learn and how apes process and think,“ Lisa Stevens, curator of primates and giant pandas at the Smithsonian National Zoo, told Ivanhoe.

Orangutans are highly intelligent animals. Bonnie is no exception. “She's a very free spirit,“ Erin Stromberg, the great ape keeper at the Smithsonian National Zoo said. “She's very independent, very smart, always watching what we're doing.”

Bonnie also imitates other human behaviors. She has been seen sweeping up after herself, just as her caretakers do.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Enica R. Thompson
Public Affairs Specialist
Smithsonian's National Zoological Park
Washington, D.C. 20008
(202) 633-3083
thompsone@si.edu

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