The Practical Chimp

There is a report from Furuvik zoo, near the Arctic Circle in Sweden about a male Common chimpanzee, Santino, who seems to show evidence of the 'human' characteristic of forward planning (http://browse.guardian.co.uk/search?search=Santino&sitesearch-radio=guardian&go-guardian=Search). The ape apparently collected piles of stones, when he was alone in his enclosure and the zoo was closed, so that he could pelt human visitors with them when the place reopened. He didn't appear to collect stones when the zoo was closed over the winter period. His reward for this insight? The zoo had him castrated. A pity, as late castration doesn't produce much of a behavioural change in animals of this type and of this age. It seems to me that this example is by no means unique. It is well-established that Common chimpanzees use 'forward planning' in executing their group hunting of other primate species and some even carry stones to use a nutcrackers in conjunction with depressions in root systems in advance of having nuts (unlike Santino).