"Apes that write, start fires and play Pac-Man" - Savage-Rumbaugh asks whether uniquely human traits, and other animals` behaviors, are hardwired by species. Then she rolls a video that makes you think: maybe not. The bonobo apes she works with understand spoken English. One follows her instructions to take a cigarette lighter from her pocket and use it to start a fire. Bonobos are shown making tools, drawing symbols to communicate, and playing Pac-Man -- all tasks learned just by watching. Maybe it`s not always biology that causes a species to act as it does, she suggests. Maybe it`s cultural exposure to how things are done.
