10.9.2015 – 24.9.2015 ISLAND CONNECTIONS 754 13

Scientists from ULL (Univer-sity of La Laguna) and the Loro Parque Foundation are working together to study the predom-inantly herbivorous ape that inhabits the forests of central Africa: the gorilla.

The DNA of gorillas is very similar to humans and they are the next closest living rela-tive to us after chimpanzees and bonobos. The principal objective of the study is to determine the primates’ rate of learning and intelligence levels. Can they use objects to achieve a specific goal with-out first being taught? Can they create something use-ful from given materials? By studying the cognition, intel-ligence and mental processes of these primates, specialists hope to better understand the biological similarities between apes and humans. For Carlos Alvarez, professor of psychol-ogy at ULL and project man-ager for this study, the topic is a fascinating one.The initiative consists of a series of tests and activities to assess the mental responses of the primates using innova-tive instruments and to learn whether they are capable of improvising or experiencing optical illusions, etc. Studies such as this can only be car-ried out with the animals living under human care and super-vision. The research team is working with Josep Call, direc-tor of the Wolfgang Köhler Pri-mate Research Center of the Max Planck Institute for Evo-lutionary Anthropology in Ger-many, and also with Héctor

Marín from the University of the Balearic Islands.One exercise sees the subjects offered juices and food types that can only be consumed through a straw. Researchers hope to determine whether they

can feed in a way that is new to them, and how long it takes for them to figure it out.It used to be generally accepted that creativity and the ability to invent was only possible in humans, however, today we know that other spe-cies also have these capabili-ties and the project hopes to thoroughly study the primates’ ability to problem-solve and use initiative.Another aspect of the project is to study their visual perception and discover whether these ani-mals perceive optical illusions at the same rate as humans. To help find out, gorillas are shown various illustrations: for example, an image with four straight lines. Research-ers determine whether the sub-jects look at the top line lon-ger than the subsequent lines, even though all four are the same length.Gorillas are the largest living primates on Earth and their DNA to humans differs by only 1.6 per cent. Loro Parque is home to a bachelor group of lowland gorillas, threatened with extinction in the wild.The world’s first research cen-tre for non-human primates was founded in Puerto de La Cruz in 1913. One year later, the German psychologist and phe-nomenologist, Wolfgang Köhler, conducted the first series of

experiments to evaluate the intelligence of chimpanzees. He was a founding father of Primatology, the study of pri-mates, and Gestalt psychology: scientific fields which focus on the behaviour and mental pro-cesses of various species and compares the results in rela-tion with human cognition and responses.The population of gorillas in the wild has deteriorated dra-matically over the past decade with a sharp increase in defor-estation of Africa’s rainforests, which has also made it easier for poachers to enter their pre-viously inaccessible habitats. As a result, their numbers have continually fallen over recent years.Given this situation, in 2008 the International Union for the Preservation of Nature (IUCN) – also an affiliate of the Loro Parque Foundation – increased their status to ‘critically endan-gered’. Fortunately, the Euro-pean Endangered Species Pro-gramme (EPP) is one of many projects set up to deal with the situation, and the bachelor group of gorillas at Loro Parque plays a key role in breeding pro-grammes. Also, the research gained from Loro Parque’s innovative programmes helps support the handling of other groups in zoos and protected spaces all over the world. n

CANARY ISLANDS

PRIMATE RESEARCH AT LORO PARqUE

How similar are gorillas to humans?

Like chimpanzees, gorillas are genetically similar to humans

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The Casa Amarilla in Puerto de La Cruz was the world’s first primate research centre