Kanzi the Bonobo and the Roots of Imagination: NPR Shortwave Explores Animal Minds

Overview

In NPR's Shortwave, Nate Rott revisits Kanzi the bonobo and a novel test of imagination that uses pretend tea-party scenarios. Kanzi, raised in captivity, watches as a researcher pours imaginary juice into two cups and then asks him to locate the juice. Despite the barrier between keeper and subject, Kanzi points to the cup with imaginary juice about 70 percent of the time, suggesting he can simulate more than one version of reality in his mind. The researchers connect these results to language comprehension, symbolic communication, and the broader question of animal minds, linking them to child development research on pretend play and the deep evolutionary roots of imagination.

The episode situates Kanzi’s abilities within debates about imagination, cognition, and what non-human minds can perceive, offering a lens on how play and pretend scenarios can illuminate mental life across species.

Kanzi and the imagination question

NPR's Shortwave investigates Kanzi, a famous bonobo, and a novel approach to probing imagination in non-human animals. In a controlled, tea-party–style setup, Kanzi watches a researcher across a table with two empty cups and a pitcher, as imaginary juice is poured into the cups. The challenge is for Kanzi to indicate where the juice would be after one cup is emptied, testing whether he can hold an imagined object in his mind and reason about it. The team reports that Kanzi selected the correct cup about 70% of the time, suggesting he can entertain at least two versions of reality in his cognition.

"We think of imagination as being really fundamentally human." - Chris Krupena, cognitive scientist at Johns Hopkins University.

The pretend tea party experiment

The experiment mirrors classic studies of human imagination in children, translating the idea into non-human behavior. Kanzi’s responses indicate he can track not only what is present but what is absent or imagined, a finding the researchers say points to deep evolutionary roots of imagination shared with bonobos. The setup, recording, and interpretation are designed to infer internal mental states from observable actions, a hallmark of contemporary cognitive science.

"This ability to sort of go beyond the present, go beyond reality in your mind, is a sort of remarkable cognitive feat" - Chris Krupena, cognitive scientist.

Evolutionary roots and the human connection

Researchers connect Kanzi’s capacity to long-standing questions about how imagination begins in development. They reference foundational work in children showing pretend play as crucial practice for complex planning and social understanding. Kristen Andrews, a philosopher specializing in animal minds, emphasizes that imagination helps people anticipate outcomes and navigate social situations, underlining its practical value beyond mere fantasy. A third focal point is the role of daydreaming and mental simulation in efficient decision-making, tying cognitive science to everyday reasoning.

"daydreaming can save you time" - Kristen Andrews, philosophy professor at the City University of New York and York University.