When Animals Use Tools

People once believed that only human beings were clever enough to use tools. Over the past sixty years, however, scientists who study animals in the wild have made a series of surprising discoveries. They have found that a number of animals are also able to use simple tools to help them get food or stay safe. This shows that humans may not be as （ 1 ） as we once thought.

Chimpanzees are perhaps the most famous example. In the wild, they push thin sticks into holes in trees to pull out tasty insects, and they use heavy stones to crack open hard nuts. （ 2 ）, some birds called crows are also remarkably clever. A crow may bend a piece of wire into a hook to lift food out of a narrow tube — something that even many young children find difficult to do.

Even some sea animals use tools. Certain octopuses carry empty shells across the sea floor and hide inside them when danger appears. Sea otters use small rocks to break open shellfish while floating on their backs. （ 3 ） these discoveries, scientists now understand that the ability to use tools is far more common in the animal world than people ever imagined. Many of these animals seem to learn how to use tools by watching others, and young animals often copy their parents. This suggests that, like humans, some animals can pass useful knowledge from one generation to the next. The more carefully scientists watch wild animals, the harder it becomes to say exactly what makes human beings so different from the rest of nature.