Animal Intelligence News

It looked like a game of parrot poker, but the token exchange counter set up by European researchers at a Spanish zoo was an experiment to determine if African grey…

Scientists have discovered a new chimpanzee “behavioral realm” in the Bili-Uéré region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). A research team led by Thurston C. Hicks of the Max…

There’s a chimpanzee population in Western Africa that uses tools to crack open nuts. Scientists theorize that this behavior provides the chimps with access to an important source of food…

Chimps have been taught to sound an alarm when poachers approach; polar bears and condors have been trained to avoid towns; and even butterflies can learn new tricks.

On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, we speak with the co-author of a new book about the minds and lives of animals — their memories, how we know that…

On today’s episode, we speak with the legendary Jane Goodall, who truly needs no introduction, and will have a direct report from the United Nations’ climate talks happening now in…

Scientists and conservationists have long believed that the rapid loss of Southeast Asia’s old-growth, “primary” rainforests in recent decades would leave one of its most iconic inhabitants, the orangutan, with…

There are only a handful of bird species known to use tools for foraging in the wild, and now the ‘Alalā, or Hawaiian crow, can be counted as one of…

The Crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) is responsible for depletion of 40 percent of the coral cover on the Great Barrier Reef over the last 30 years, and currently can only…

When I was ten, I acquired my first dog. Rani was a Doberman Pinscher—tall, lean, and a huge pushover. She was wonderfully friendly, but sadly misunderstood her whole life, regularly…

For the first time, researchers have observed an adult marmoset comforting a dying adult family member, behavior that was previously thought to be unique only to humans and chimpanzees. Researchers…

Lioness feeding. Photo by: Cyril Christo and Marie Wilkinson. In the new book, In Predatory Light: Lions and Tigers and Polar Bears, authors Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, Sy Montgomery, and John…

Common marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus) have been described as having human-like conversations according to a team of researchers from the Princeton Neuroscience Institute. Native to Brazil, marmosets are highly social…

Does size matter? When referring to primate brain size and its relation to social intelligence, scientists at Duke University do not think the answer is a simple yes or no.…

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), popularly known for their majestic and alluring underwater mating songs and acrobatic breaches, have shown that they can adapt to changing prey variability by passing on…

On March 21st, the organization Save the Elephants posted on their Facebook page that two African elephants had been poached inside a nearby reserve: "Sad news from the north of…

The 3rd Annual New York Wildlife Conservation Film Festival (WFCC.org) runs from January 30 – February 2, 2013. Ahead of the event, Mongabay.com is running a series of Q&As with…

An interview with Claire Varian-Ramos, a part of our on-going Interviews with Young Scientists series. Birds aren't that different from people. We learn from our parents, just like zebra finches…

The western scrub jay (Aphelocoma californica) is a common denizen of suburban neighborhoods in the U.S., loitering at bird feeders and amusing bird watchers with their entertaining antics. Known to…

Wild male orangutan in Sumatra. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler. Homo sapiens are not alone in experiencing a dip in happiness during middle age (often referred to as a mid-life…

Beluga whale. Photo by: Premier.gov.ru. Five years after the death of a captive beluga whale named NOC, researchers have discovered that the marine mammal may have been trying to communicate…

Elephant and human conflict is a common issue in India, exacerbated by habitat loss. Photo courtesy of Nishant Srinivasaiah. To prevent conflicts between humans and elephants in developed areas, a…

The yellow slime mold Physarum polycephalum exploring a petri dish. Slime deposits to the left of the image tell the slime mold where it has previously explored. Photo by: Audrey…

A new study in Biology Letters has found that warmer temperatures may make lizards smarter, even as past studies have linked a global decline in lizards to climate change. Looking…

A blackspot tuskfish (Choerodon schoenleinii) has been photographed picking up a clam in its mouth, swimming over to a rock, and then using the rock as an anvil by smashing…

Reptiles have long been thought to be dim-witted, but a new study in Biology Letters finds that the Puerto Rican anole, a type of lizard, can match birds in smarts.…

Lacking brains does not mean box jellyfish are incapable of complex visual behavior, according to a new study in Current Biology. Researchers have known for over a century that box…

Siberian tiger. John Goodrich (WCS). "Meanwhile, Trush’s dog, Gitta is racing back and forth, hackles raised and barking in alarm. The tiger is somewhere close by—invisible to the men, but…

Less than 200 blond capuchins (Cebus falvius) survive in the highly-fragmented habitat of Brazil's Atlantic Forest. But this tiny group of monkeys, only rediscovered in 2006, is surprising scientists with…

A new study proves that elephants understand how sometimes two is better than one. Working with Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) at the Thai Elephant Conservation Center, researchers reconstructed a classic…