An interesting side note about chimpanzees was that some Zairian villagers may have known that they fished for termites. It was a bit deceptive, because the translation from the local language was that they ate "black fruit." From the description, it sounded like they were talking about termites, but it was impossible to confirm, since the story had come second-hand. (There were many species of termites in Zaire. The most common forest termite built breadbasket sized black mounds, with mushroom like rain-shedding caps).In 1991, I hired a Zairian artist named Kizito to create draft pages of a cartoon booklet that I envisioned, called "The Fascinating Animals of Zaire." Depicting natural animal behaviors in Kinshasa posed an unusual challenge -- a lack of photographs. I was convinced that termite fishing would be one of the most interesting things to show chimp intelligence, but, having never seen it himself, it was impossible for Kizito to realistically draw such an action.
Occaisionally, a chimpanzee was brought in for examination and treatment, so I found a subject in an anesthetized chimpanzee. Quickly, our team carried him outside and positioned his hands to simulate preparing a long twig, then fishing, then eating the termites. Sketching from life, Kizito was able to do a creditable job on the cartoon, previously posted on this blog.
Photos by D. Messinger
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