Moscow: Chimpanzees in a Russian zoo have learned to clean their cages by watching zookeepers.
A pair of chimpanzees, Yasha and Jessica, grabbed mops, rags and trash bags in order to clean up their two-floor cage on a regular basis, the Udmurtia zoo's press service said.
Yasha was the first to use the mop, which he "covertly obtained" from the zookeepers. The chimpanzee also took special care to clean the glass walls of its cage, "spitting on them before wiping" them, according to the zoo in the Volga region.
The duo eventually split cleaning duties, with Jessica sweeping the cage's ground floor and putting trash in the bag and Yasha taking similar care of the upper floor.
However, other species failed to follow suit. Gibbons, mangabeys and de Brazza's monkeys imitated Yasha and Jessica's example, but used mops and wiping cloths to hit each other or simply gnawed on them, the zoo said.
IANS
First Published: Friday, February 10, 2012, 08:56