This unusual inter-species communication is happening between bonnet macaques (peninsular Indian monkeys) and tourists, with the simians using new gestures and sounds to request for food. Behavioural primatologist Anindya Sinha of Bengaluru’s National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) first observed macaques using a soft ‘coo’ call to do this in 1993. If the food-carrying tourist met a macaque’s gaze, the monkey would extend its hand in an obvious request for food. The monkeys also continuously monitored people during these food-requesting events, but stopped this scanning when they received food. First for wild monkeysWhile some captive monkeys, such as chimpanzees and baboons, do show such deliberate communication towards their human caregivers, this has never been documented in wild monkeys before.

Source: The Hindu April 15, 2018 19:52 UTC