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For the first time, scientists have experimentally shown bonobos (Pan paniscus), our closest living relatives along with chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), can engage in pretend play — something previously assumed to be unique to humans.
Just like 2-year-old children can, Kanzi, a unique bonobo who could understand English, kept track of imaginary juice and grapes during pretend tea parties, according to a study published Thursday (Feb. 5) in the journal Science.
Although Kanzi, who died in March 2025, did not initiate the pretend play, his ability to follow along shows he had some of the mental building blocks needed to imagine pretend objects and scenarios.
"We were really in awe at this finding," study co-author Christopher Krupenye, an assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Johns Hopkins University, told Live Science. "What we're seeing in this case is that … something that seems to be fundamentally human and is emerging early in our human development is also shared with our closest relatives," he said.
This suggests the human capacity to imagine objects that aren't really there could have evolved before humans and bonobos split from our last common ancestor over 6 million years ago, Krupenye said.
Previous anecdotal evidence has hinted that captive and wild great apes engage in pretend play. For example, a wild 3-year-old chimpanzee in Guinea was observed playing with a discarded human-made leaf cushion by placing it on his head. A captive bonobo also "picked" and "ate" blueberries from a photograph of real blueberries.
