The ability to use tools is said to be an important shared trait between humans and non-human primates; similarly, it seems to be the desire to be free.
In the early hours of yesterday morning, a group of eight capuchin monkeys made a very clever escape from a zoo in Brazil. To the surprise of the staff at the facility, the daring monkeys appear to have used a stone tool to break the locks on their enclosure before fleeing into the surrounding jungle.
Of the eight monkeys that escaped from the facility in the Brazilian state of Paraná, officials have only managed to recapture four so far. Zoo coordinator Gladis Dalamina told Globo that they successfully captured three of the monkeys in the hours following the escape using traps and fruit as bait placed in cages. The fourth was found a day after they broke into a nearby restaurant.
"It's a surprise, because it's not like you'd see a monkey making its way all the way to my place in the jungle. It was funny," said the owner. Dalamina says she and her team will continue trying to locate the rest of the escapees, but he thinks they've already caught the masterminds behind the escape: an older monkey named Ceará and his girlfriend, Amarela. According to authorities, this isn't the first time monkeys have tried to escape from the zoo as a group, although using a stone tool has been the most surprising method so far.
"Their job is to run. Ours is to catch them."
Los monos capuchinos se cree que son los más inteligentes de los monos del Nuevo Mundo exhibiendo una notable capacidad para utilizar herramientas de piedra. Los investigadores han observado los capuchinos en recolección de rocas que recogen a grandes distancias para ayudar a abrir grietas a nueces duras. Esta habilidad se transmite generacionalmente, los monos mas jóvenes aprenden observando a sus mayores.
La aplicación de esta herramienta a la tarea de romper las cerraduras es nueva, sin embargo, indica un uso notable de la lógica para resolver la situación natural de su cautiverio. Pero lo que es más sorprendente, quizás, es el deseo fundamental que guió sus acciones: el anhelo de ser libre.
Fuente: http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/monkeys-found-have-used-tools-escape-zoo-brazil.html