 Des Moines, Iowa – Tuesday, May 30, 2007 – Bill Fields, a senior research scientist and program director of Ape Language Research at Great Ape Trust of Iowa, learned most of what he needed to know about research associate Takashi Yoshida by watching an innovative game of chase he worked out with the bonobo P-Suke not long after joining the Language Research Center (LRC) at Georgia State University in 1999.
Fields called the game “parallel chase.” A four-sided tunnel made of cyclone fencing connected two buildings at the LRC, and as P-Suke ran along the ground level, Takashi chased him several feet above from the top. The interplay between them was evidence of the bond and closeness they had developed, and both appeared to find great joy in playing the game, Fields said. “It was just beautiful to watch.”
It was also convincing evidence to Fields of Yoshida’s creative mind and a seemingly innate understanding of the individual needs of individual bonobos. “They really, really care about him, and I have watched that grow,” Fields said. “Takashi seems to understand his role and social importance and responsibility, and he puts forth everything he’s got.”
P-Suke died at Great Ape Trust in 2006 of complications of cardiac fibrosis, but Takashi enjoys special – but different – relationships with all of the bonobos at The Trust, Fields said, and is able to communicate equally well with those who are language competent and those who are not.
Bonobos are able to negotiate very large social groups and want to be involved in a variety of them. As a trusted human member of those social groups, Takashi possesses an ability to assess the situation and create very stable social groups very quickly, according to Fields.
Takashi discerns these needs through careful observation. The bonobos’ social gestures occur in the blink of an eye and “Takashi doesn’t miss any of them,” Fields said.
“It comes from doing it a long time; it comes from having the desire; it comes from having the insight to let go of how you do it in the human world and let go of skills you may not need in that situation,” he said. “What is really remarkable about Takashi is that he never places limitations on what the apes can do and never makes a judgment on what they can and cannot do. When you have that point of view as a scientist, more things can happen.”
As an undergraduate student at Kansas State University who came to the United States from Japan in 1994 to study English and wildlife biology, Takashi was anticipating a career working with big game animals in Africa when he read John M. Pearce’s 1987 book, “Introduction to Animal Cognition.” The book referenced the great ape language acquisition work at the Language Research Center in Georgia, and Takashi was fascinated by the subject.
“I hadn’t heard of bonobo and chimp conversations,” he said of the bonobos’ use of lexigrams that scientists developed as a means of understanding the evolution of human language.
The book effectively changed Takashi’s life, and he decided to pursue a master’s degree in neurobiology so he could study at Georgia State with Dr. Duane Rumbaugh and Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, who continue their ape cognition work today at Great Ape Trust.
Takashi completed his thesis on the bonobo Panbanisha’s writings and drawings, and Fields is hopeful that he can resume that study. Panbanisha began drawing some of the symbols after seeing some of her human colleagues draw in the dirt with sticks when no lexigram was available. Panbanisha often draws the symbols for coffee (one of her favorite special treats), cherries, A-frame, marshmallows, clay and backpack.
Panbanisha’s ability to write and draw piqued Takashi’s curiosity and he’s eager to learn more. “My master’s study didn’t give me enough information,” he said. “I want to pursue how much she can do.”
After working with the bonobos since 1999, Takashi is still surprised by their insights. “You can’t get enough,” he said, adding that even scientists and others who have worked with the great apes since their birth – in the case of Kanzi and Panbanisha, more than two decades ago – “do not fully understand what they are capable of.”
Most of today’s revelations are more subtle than groundbreaking, as they were in the early days of the LRC in Georgia. There, the apes were divided into two distinct groups. Kanzi, Panbanisha, Nyota and Nathan had all demonstrated understanding of and varying degrees of proficiency in using human language, and they were separated from the control group of Matata, Elikya and Maisha, who were not language proficient.
At Great Ape Trust, however, all bonobos live in a common space and Elikya, who will be 10 next month, and Maisha, 7, seem to be developing some linguistic skills. “They don’t understand fully each lexigram,” Takashi said, “but they seem to understand the function.”
Fields said that as lab supervisor, most of Takashi’s energy is dedicated to the apes' welfare and happiness, and his contributions at The Trust go far beyond what is suggested by his job title. He’s a research assistant, but also the bonobo lab supervisor and a caretaker who pays attention to small details like the presentation of food in the aesthetic style for which the Japanese are known. For example, Fields said, green onions, a favorite of Kanzi’s, are presented as a fan rather than in a bunch.
“They understand the care and time and effort involved in doing it this way,” Fields said. “Presentation matters, and Takashi goes to a lot of trouble to make sure that’s there. I do believe the bonobos understand the care and respect and love that is required to do it that way.”
Takashi and his wife, AnnMarie, became the parents of a son, Kai Dougen, in February and that has significantly changed his stature with the bonobos, Fields said. AnnMarie often brings their young son to the lab so the bonobos can get to know him. “The great thing about the baby is, you can do anything,” Fields said. “It is the gold standard for the bonobos.”
Takashi’s long-term goal is to study bonobo communication in the wild, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Great Ape Trust Background:
Great Ape Trust of Iowa is a scientific research facility in southeast Des Moines dedicated to understanding the origins and future of culture, language, tools and intelligence. When completed, Great Ape Trust will be the largest great ape facility in North America and one of the first worldwide to include all four types of great ape – bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans – for noninvasive interdisciplinary studies of their cognitive and communicative abilities.
Great Ape Trust is dedicated to providing sanctuary and an honorable life for great apes, studying the intelligence of great apes, advancing conservation of great apes and providing unique educational experiences about great apes. Great Ape Trust of Iowa is a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit organization and is certified by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). To learn more about Great Ape Trust of Iowa, go to www.GreatApeTrust.org. |
Great Ape Trust is certified by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums
