Memorial Website for "Genius" Chimpanzee Launched in Japan

Inuyama, Aichi Pref., Feb. 15 (Jiji Press)--Kyoto University's Center for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior has launched a memorial website for Ai, a chimpanzee known as a "genius " for her cognitive abilities, one month after she died at the age of 49.

"Ai was a research partner who taught me many things about the minds and existence of chimpanzees, as well as about humans," said Ikuma Adachi, 47, associate professor at the university, who worked with the chimpanzee for 18 years.

Born in Africa, Ai arrived at the center in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, in 1977 at the age of one.

Adachi said she was "curious and adapted well to a human-made environment."

The "Ai Project" started in 1978 to investigate chimpanzees' thinking and language abilities. In 1985, a paper on Ai was published in the British scientific journal Nature. In 1989, she "escaped" from the center using a key found nearby, drawing public attention.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]