The world's most famous chimpanzee in Japan, known for his cognitive abilities, Ay has died.
Oxu.Az reports that the BBC has released this information citing Kyoto University, where the chimpanzee lived.
Ay died at the age of 49 on January 9 at the Center for the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior. Staff at the research center were with the chimpanzee in his final hours.
Ay was born in West Africa and brought to Japan in 1977. In Kyoto, he was a key participant in a research program dedicated to studying the cognition of chimpanzees. Scientists determined that Ay could distinguish numbers and colors.
According to a 1985 study conducted by primatologist Tetsuro Matsuzawa, Ay had learned to count from 1 to 6 at the age of five and was able to differentiate numbers, colors, and objects in over 300 samples.
The chimpanzee also mastered drawing on paper with markers. Japanese media had also reported that Ay once stole a key and escaped from his enclosure together with another primate.
In 2000, the chimpanzee gave birth to a child named Ayumu. He is also known for his exceptional memory.
