Chimpanzee Ai, known for high literacy skills, dies in Japan
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A female chimpanzee known for her ability to recognise numbers has died at the age of 49.
PHOTO: THE JAPAN NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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TOKYO – A female chimpanzee known for her ability to recognise letters and numbers has died of old age and multiple organ failure at 49 years of age, according to the Japanese institute that led experiments involving her.
Kyoto University’s Center for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior in Inuyama, Aichi prefecture, said Ai was born in western Africa in 1976 and arrived at the centre the following year.
She began language learning using materials, including computers, at the age of 18 months.
Ai died on Jan 9 as staff watched over her, according to the centre, formerly known as the Primate Research Institute.
She showed strong literacy skills, including pointing to the kanji character for green among many characters after seeing a green image, and British science magazine Nature featured her in 1985. KYODO NEWS
