The chimpanzee Washoe, the first great ape to acquire human language, died of natural causes on Oct. 30, at Central Washington University’s Chimpanzee-Human Communication Institute in Ellensburg. Washoe, born in the wild in Africa and captured as an infant, was believed to be 42.
Scientists at Great Ape Trust of Iowa, a scientific research facility dedicated to understanding the origins and future of culture, language, tools and intelligence, joined scientists around the globe in mourning the loss of Washoe, the first ape to break the species barrier in human-chimpanzee relations. In their work with Washoe, Drs. Beatrix and Allen Gardner, both psychologists, made the first major breakthrough in understanding the limits of the chimpanzee mind and the influence of language in 1966.
Among the scientists collaborating with Washoe was Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh a scientist at Great Ape Trust. Her early work with Washoe led to subsequent work with chimpanzees now living at The Trust. Rumbaugh and William M. Fields, director of bonobo research at Great Ape Trust, are the only scientists in the world conducting language research with bonobos.
Washoe was born in Africa in September 1965, captured as an infant when her mother was killed by hunters, and taken to market and sold to a dealer. She was brought to the United States by the Air Force for space research and was later adopted.
The young female chimpanzee was reared in a home-like environment and was exposed to American Sign Language rather than spoken language. Those interacting with Washoe were forbidden to speak in her presence and were instead asked to use ASL.
When she died, Washoe had a vocabulary of about 250 words.
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