The Intelligence Of Gorillas And Intelligence

The intelligence of gorillas has been overlooked for many decades, and is still overlooked today. Gorillas and other apes are close cousins to humans, and until recently, have been believed to only be able to achieve a level of intelligence that humans possess (Patterson). It is clear these assumptions are wrong, and gorillas do have the potential to have the same level of intelligence as humans. Even simple memory tests suggest gorilla’s intelligence is comparable to humans. “That challenges the belief of many people, including a number of scientists, that "humans are superior to chimpanzees in all cognitive functions," researcher Tetsuro Matsuzawa of Kyoto University told the Associated Press in 2007 on the subject ("How Smart Are Planet

7 Intelligence Milestones", 2011). Gorillas exhibit this intelligence potential in their ability to communicate, be self-aware, and make and use tools ("History & Milestones,", 2016). Intelligence, as it is used in this paper, means the capacity of a mind to understand what is happening around to acquire knowledge and apply it in practice. The gorillas this paper refers to are in captivity, and their intelligence compared to humans’ intelligence is being tested by scientists who raise the gorillas from very young ages ("History & Milestones,", 2016). Gorillas have exceptional communication skills. In this case communication is not referring to gorilla-to-gorilla communication, but gorilla-to-human conversation and vice versa. Gorillas have the capability to learn and practice sign language at a very young age, much like humans. Gorillas of the past have not only learned up to two-thousand signs, but have also been able to use the signs to have complex back-and-forth conversations and formulate in depth questions ("History & Milestones,", 2016). "Great apes have [language] skills that are similar to small children," Thomas Breuer, an ape researcher with the Wildlife Conservation Society in the Republic of the Congo, said ("How Smart Are Planet 's Apes? 7

Toolmaking and use is thought to be only a human trait as well. “The notion is [tool use] requires higher intelligence, because it requires refashioning what nature has provided to achieve the user 's goal," Anne Russon, an expert in ape intelligence at Canada 's York University, said via email ("How Smart Are Planet 's Apes? 7 Intelligence Milestones", 2011). Scientist always believed toolmaking and use could only be achieved by animals with a level of intelligence equal to that of a human. Gorillas use tools to hunt other animals, protect themselves, and solve high level problems ("Gorilla Research - Gorilla Facts and Information", 2014). A couple of examples are gorillas using sticks to “fish” for ants off of trees and using sticks to measure the deepness of water before entering it. Another way gorilla’s use their surroundings and utilize them as tools, much like humans do, is with plants. Gorillas have been known to use plants as medicines to heal themselves ("History & Milestones,”