Sumatran Orangutans Differ in Their Cultural Knowledge but Not in Their Cognitive Abilities

SummaryAnimal cultures are controversial [1 and 2] because the method used to isolate culture in animals aims at excluding genetic and environmental influences rather than demonstrating social learning [3 and 4]. Here, we analyzed these factors in parallel in captivity to determine their influences on tool use. We exposed Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) orphans from tool-using and non-tool-using regions (western swamps and eastern Langkat, respectively) that differed in both genetic [ 5] and cultural [6] backgrounds to a raking task and a honey-dipping task [ 7 and 8] to assess their understanding of stick use. Orangutans from both regions were equally successful in raking; however, swamp orangutans were more successful than Langkat orangutans in honey dipping, where previously acquired knowledge was required. A larger analysis suggested that the Alas River could constitute a geographical barrier to the spread of this cultural trait [9]. Finally, honey-dipping individuals were on average less than 4 years old, but this behavior is not observed in the wild before 6 years of age. Our results suggest first that genetic differences between wild Sumatran populations cannot explain their differences in stick use; however, their performances in honey dipping support a cultural differentiation in stick knowledge. Second, the results suggest that the honey-dippers were too young when arriving at the quarantine center to have possibly mastered the behavior in the wild individually [10], suggesting that they arrived with preestablished mental representations of stick use or, simply put, “cultural ideas.”

► Orphan orangutans differing in genetic backgrounds did not differ in a raking task
► However, individuals differed in a honey-dipping task requiring cultural knowledge
► Orangutans arrived at the center with a knowledge they did not express in the wild
► These results suggest orphans differed in cultural ideas rather than behaviors