Primates kept in cages at the Phoenix Zoo in Miyazaki, Japan are just out of reach from each other. An orangutan, named Happy, is behind bars about 1.5 meters away from a group of nine chimpanzees, but 21-year-old Happy is still making friends.
"We have never heard of an orangutan that bothers to offer their food to other animals living separately from the animal," Tomoyuki Tajima, a primate specialist, told Japanese news outlet Asahi. Orangutans are known to be smart and typically live solitary lives, but sharing demonstrates a higher class of social intelligence.
Zookeeper Kenichiro Kori told Asahi that Happy began his altruistic behavior about five years ago when he started tossing over his least favorite vegetables: carrots and cabbages. The chimpanzees now extend their arms out of the cages almost as if encouraging Happy to send over the "nummies."
Tomoyuki Tajima, a student at Kyoto University's graduate school and an expert on orangutan behavior, told Asahi that orangutans at Fukuoka City Zoological Garden give their food to monkeys they live with inside the same facility. "However, I have never heard of an orangutan which gives food to animals living separately from the ape in term of exchanges between different animal species," Tajima said.
