Children enjoy pretend play, from hosting tea parties to setting up grocery stores. Interestingly, a new study indicates that this type of imaginative play isn’t just a human trait. Great apes, particularly bonobos, also engage in it.
The research focused on a bonobo named Kanzi, who participated in a series of pretend tea party experiments at Johns Hopkins University. Earlier observations hinted that apes might simulate play. For example, some chimpanzees were seen dragging imaginary blocks as if they were real. However, these observations left some doubts.
To explore this further, researchers conducted controlled experiments with Kanzi. He first identified a squirt bottle filled with juice correctly in 18 trials. Next, he was shown imaginary juice being poured into cups. Remarkably, he identified where the pretend juice was 68% of the time, a clear indication that he understood the difference between real and imaginary.
Furthermore, in another task using grapes, Kanzi demonstrated a similar ability, successfully identifying the imaginary grape 68.9% of the time. This suggests that pretend play might not be limited to humans after all, as noted by the study’s authors in Science.
Expert opinions underscore the significance of these findings. Nicholas E. Newton-Fisher, a primate behavioral ecologist, stated that Kanzi’s skills challenge traditional views of ape cognition. He emphasized that these results lend support to earlier anecdotal evidence from both captivity and the wild.
Kanzi, who passed away in March 2025, was especially well-suited for this study. He was trained to understand language and could use a lexigram with over 300 symbols. His unique abilities led researchers to consider whether other bonobos might display similar cognitive skills.
While further research is needed to generalize these findings to other apes, there’s a growing sentiment that we often underestimate the cognitive abilities of these species. Newton-Fisher reminds us that the mental capabilities of apes should not be viewed simply as a lesser version of human cognitive skills. Each species has its own unique way of interpreting the world.
In light of this research, we’re reminded that the capacity for imagination may extend far beyond what we once believed, prompting us to rethink our understanding of ape intelligence.
