Groundbreaking Study Reveals Wild Chimpanzees Teach Tool Use to Their Young
Researchers studying western chimpanzees in Senegal’s Dindefelo reserve between 2017 and 2025 observed rare, deliberate teaching behaviors, documenting adults demonstrating tool-use before handing sticks or food to infants, who then successfully copied the actions—such as in two clear episodes involving a mother and a juvenile male. Published in Frontiers in Psychology, the analysis of 33 tool transfers (about one-third between mothers and their young) suggests that passing tools and food helps immature chimpanzees learn techniques for extracting difficult-to-access foods, a significant finding given that tool use itself is exceptionally rare in the animal kingdom and active teaching is even rarer, highlighting the role of family learning in this species’ cultural transmission.
