Ai, a female chimpanzee famous for her cognitive skills, has died at 49, according to the Japanese institute where she lived. The Kyoto University's Center for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior said Ai died on January 9 of old age and organ failure, and that she was surrounded by staff when she died.
Ai was born in western Africa and arrived at the Japanese institute in 1977. There, she became the namesake of the Ai Project, a research programme into the chimpanzee mind. Among the institute's notable findings were the fact that Ai was able to use numbers and identify colors.
Researchers gave Ai a special keyboard linked to a computer when she was just 18 months old, allowing them to study her memory and learning. By age five, Ai had mastered numerical naming from one to six and could name the number, color, and object of 300 types of samples, as noted in a 1985 scientific paper by Tetsuro Matsuzawa, the primatologist behind the Ai Project.
When not participating in cognitive tests, Ai enjoyed drawing and painting, often creating art without the incentive of food rewards. She was also known for her mischievous side, famously unlocking her cage with a key to escape with another primate. In 2000, Ai gave birth to a son, Ayumu, recognized for his impressive memory.
In honor of the 40th anniversary of the Ai Project in 2017, a scarf made from one of Ai's paintings was presented to renowned primatologist Dame Jane Goodall. Ai's legacy will continue to inspire researchers and animal lovers alike, highlighting the intelligence and creativity of our closest primate relatives.
