07/11/2025
Chimpanzees living in a sanctuary in Africa have developed a "fashion trend" for dangling blades of grass or sticks from their ear holes and their behinds, a new study shows.
In 2010, researchers working at Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage Trust chimpanzee sanctuary in Zambia observed how a female chimp started to dangle objects from her ear, and the behavior was soon copied by other members of her group, study lead author Ed van Leeuwen, an assistant professor of behavioural biology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, told CNN on Wednesday.
There was no evidence that the chimpanzees were using the grass or sticks to deal with pain or itches, and they were "very relaxed" when they did it, Van Leeuwen said.
The behavior is more of a "fashion trend or social tradition," he added.
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