Kanzi (October 28, 1980 – March 18, 2025) was a male bonobo who was the subject of numerous studies on great ape language and cognition. According to Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, a primatologist who has studied the bonobo since the 1990s, Kanzi exhibited advanced linguistic aptitude. Kanzi was notable for his cognitive ability and apparent capacity to understand and manipulate language. He is believed to have been the first non-human great ape to comprehend spoken English. He was also the subject of research into his understanding and usage of symbols to communicate, usually through lexigrams and partial ASL. The information that researchers gathered from Kanzi made a significant impact on the fields of linguistics and cognitive science. Kanzi's behavior and abilities have been the topic of research published in scientific journals, as well as reports in popular media. He died in 2025 in Des Moines, Iowa.
Biography Kanzi was born in captivity on October 28, 1980, in Atlanta, Georgia, to Lorel and Bosandjo at Yerkes Field Station at Emory University in 1980. Lorel was later moved to the Jacksonville Zoo in Florida, while Bosandjo still currently resides at Yerkes. Within hours of Kanzi's birth, he was adopted by his adoptive mother Matata, a wild-born bonobo who originated from Zaire. In 1985, Kanzi and his sister Panbanisha moved to the Language Research Center at Georgia State University. They were later relocated to the Great Ape Trust, in Des Moines, Iowa. The controversial facility, which had been embattled with serious allegations of neglect, was closed after the death of Panbanisha in 2012. In 2013, the Ape Cognition and Conservation Initiative (ACCI), under the direction of Jared Taglialatela, a professor at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, and Bill Hopkins, a professor at Georgia State University, took over the facility. When the ACCI took over Kanzi's care in 2013, he was severely obese due to mismanagement of his diet and activity. His new caretakers changed Kanzi's diet to a more species-appropriate one and increased his opportunities for physical activity. Kanzi subsequently lost over seventy-five pounds. Kanzi's adoptive mother, Matata, was believed to be in her mid-to-late 40s when she died in June 2014. In the matriarchal society of bonobos, a male's position is primarily determined by the position of the females he is related to. Matata was the group's chief leader so his status as the highest ranking male was established among the group by being adopted as her "son". According to Smithsonian magazine, Kanzi "has the mien of an aging patriarch – he's balding and paunchy with serious, deep-set eyes." This description is confirmed by a full-page color photograph of Kanzi in the March 2008 National Geographic, and a full-page black-and-white photograph in Time magazine. Kanzi died on March 18, 2025, at the age of 44. His death was announced the following day, on March 19, by the ACCI, the organization which took care of Kanzi as he lived in Des Moines. ACCI staff stated that Kanzi's death was unexpected, and he had not shown any signs of illness on the day prior to his death. According to the staff, Kanzi spent his last day alive eating breakfast, playing with his great-nephew Teco, and engaging in a grooming session with other bonobos before his death. Although necropsy results are pending, the ACCI stated that his death is most likely due to heart disease, which he was previously being treated for.
Examples of behavior and abilities
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