CHIMPANZEES have been strutting their stuff with homemade grass jewellery dangling from their ears and bums.
The fashion movement has swept through groups of chimps living at a sanctuary in Zambia, with the animals copying the trend from one another.
Chimps have been noticed sticking decorative grass in their ear holes[/caption]
The style has caught on between different groups[/caption]
The chimps, living in captivity, have been sticking blades of long grass into their various orifices.
They deliberately leave it hanging there for a while whilst they go about their business, according to a new study.
There aren’t any physical or medical benefits to the behaviour – so it is purely a social phenomenon, researchers said, which they learn from each other.
Plant accessories of this kind were first noticed in chimps in 2010.
The pioneer was a trend-setting chimp called Julie, who would often position blade of grass in her ear.
Julie died in 2013, but researchers noticed at least seven members of her group living at the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage in Zambia continuing her legacy with grass in their own ears.
This suggested it had developed into a cultural movement.
Then, in 2023, another group living in the same sanctuary picked up the fad – with a daring new twist.
To investigate the apparent fashion movement properly, researchers monitored all the sanctuary’s chimps for a year.
They found that just two chimps in Julie’s group were still adorning themselves – one of whom was Julie’s son.
Meanwhile, in the other group, a male called Juma was picked out as the possible innovator of a new variation in the bottom.
Impressed with his bold style choice, most of his mates had picked it up as well within a week.
Researches described how the trend spread between groups in their new study, published in the journal Behaviour.
Fascinatingly, the two groups don’t have any contact with each other – but they do share the same keepers.
The scientists think that the ear decoration was originally inspired by human behaviour.
The behaviour was first seen in chimps at the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage[/caption]
There are over 150 captive chimps living at Chimfunshi[/caption]
Lead author Edwin van Leeuwen, assistant professor of animal behaviour at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, said: “These caretakers reported that they sometimes put a blade of grass or a matchstick in their own ears to clean them.
“Caretakers in the other groups said they did not do this.
“The chimps in the one group then figured out to stick the blade of grass in another place as well.”
This kind of behaviour has never been observed in wild chimps, who spend their time days food and dealing with other natural challenges.
Captive chimps, however, have much more free time on their hands to experiment with thing like jewellery.
Van Leeuwen said: “In captivity, they have more free time than in the wild.
“They don’t have to stay as alert or spend as much time searching for food.”
The author also speculated that the behaviour could help the chimps develop strong community tiess
He said: “It could also serve a social purpose.
“By copying someone else’s behaviour, you show that you notice and maybe even like that individual.
“So, it might help strengthen social bonds and create a sense of belonging within the group, just like it does in humans.”
