"Researchers have observed behaviour that resembles pretending in chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes) as well as bonobos ( Pan paniscus) and other great apes. A captive bonobo named Panbanisha was observed making a plucking motion to a picture of blueberries and then moving her fingers to her mouth, as if to eat the imaginary fruit. Researchers have also documented wild chimpanzees carrying logs like dolls, especially in young females."
"To explicitly test whether apes can exhibit pretence, Bastos and Krupenye adapted a 'tea party' task used in children, who usually start to imagine pretend objects around the age of 2-3 years. The test was made easier, because Kanzi - who died in 2025 aged 44 - can understand hundreds of English words and use symbols known as lexigrams, to communicate. "We were all a bit starstruck because Kanzi has been a celebrity for a very long time in the field of animal cognition," Bastos says."
A male bonobo called Kanzi preferred a cup that an experimenter pretended to fill with juice over one the experimenter pretended to empty, demonstrating an understanding of make-believe. The experiment adapted a tea-party task used with children and used transparent cups and pretend actions to probe pretence. Kanzi understood hundreds of English words and could use lexigrams, enabling clearer testing than typical for apes. Other observations include a bonobo miming eating from a picture of blueberries and wild chimpanzees carrying logs like dolls. The findings indicate some great apes can conceive of objects not present, implying richer mental lives.
Read at Nature
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