Koh Iv
BBC News
Ai, a female chimpanzee known for her ability to paint and count, has died at the age of 49 from old age and organ failure, the Japanese institute where she lived said.
She was surrounded by staff who cared for her until the very end, said the Center for Research on the Evolutionary Origins of Human Behavior at Kyoto University.
Ai was born in West Africa and arrived in Japan in 1977.
At that institute, she became a symbol of the Ai Project - a research program dedicated to studying the "chimpanzee mind."
Among the most significant discoveries was that Ai was able to use numbers and recognize colors.
Researchers gave her a special keyboard connected to a computer when she was 18 months old, using which they studied her memory and learning ability.
At the age of five, Ai “knew the numbers one through six and was able to name the number, color, and object of 300 different patterns,” according to a 1985 scientific paper by primatologist Tecuro Matsuzawa, founder of the Ai Project.
When she wasn't taking part in cognitive tests, Ai enjoyed drawing and painting - doodling with markers on blank paper without the need for food rewards.
She once escaped from the institute with another primate, using a key to unlock the cage, Japanese news agency Kyodo reported earlier.
She had her son, Ajumu, also known for his exceptional memory, in 2000.
A scarf made from one of her drawings, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Ai Project, was presented to the famous primatologist in 2017. Jane Goodall, whose groundbreaking discoveries changed the way chimpanzees are studied.
Ai passed away on January 9, it was announced.
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