Animals are thought to be inferior to humans and I guess there are some very good reasons for this. When I use the word inferior I am talking about mental inferiority, however these creatures may not be as inferior as most of us think they are. If we were to take a human at a very early age and leave him or her in the jungle and if that human child was to survive, wouldn't it be much more than an animal itself? There are reasons to believe that it would be much more animal like than human. This is not to say that the child wouldn't be mentally superior to animals but it would be very hard to tell. Could it be this way with animals, could they be a lot smarter than we think they are, but it is just to hard to tell since they have only limited ways of expressing themselves?

Look at the lowly hummingbird. Scientists have just discovered that this animal possesses an incredible memory, so incredible that it rivals that of humans in some ways. A hummingbird can remember the way to at least eight different locations that it traveled to in a day. How could we possibly know this you might ask? Experiments were done with these tiny creatures that have proved this. Bees communicate the directions to a particular flower, to other bees, through a complicated dance that we are yet to understand.

Koko, as many of you no doubt know, is a Gorilla that can speak through sign language. Years ago it was my understanding that she knew over 3,000 words and could talk in sentences, I am not sure how many words she knows now. This incredible animal is able to hold an intelligent conversation. An example of talking to Koko is as follows:

"Good afternoon, Koko. Had a nice lunch?"

"Koko eat full", Koko signed at her in the American Sign Language.

One question that Koko was asked was one that I will never forget. Koko was asked what death was. Supposedly only humans realize that we are all going to die someday.

Koko answered that death was being put in a warm hole in the ground. Kind of scary isn't it for an animal to have this kind of understanding.

Koko has even appeared on internet chats. She had her trainer and a typist with her and people actually asked her questions. The chat took place live on AOL on April 27th, 1998 at 7 pm EDT. Her trainer was asked if the Gorilla knew that she would be chatting with thousands of people and she replied that she was aware. Dr. Penny Patterson was signing the questions to Koko. Here are just a couple of questions and answers from that chat session:

Question: EFRN asks, Would Koko like to have a kitten, a dog, or another Gorilla as a friend?
LiveKOKO: dog

HaloMyBaby: A basic earthy question for Koko from Earth2Kim: Koko, what is your favorite food, fruit, or vegetable?
LiveKOKO: I like drinks.

DrPPatrsn: What kind are your favorites?
LiveKOKO: Apple drink.

Can anyone classify this animal mentally deficient?

In a recent article on animals on BBC, the following was stated:

"Communication is essential for survival. Animals have developed ways to send messages in habitats from open deserts that stretch for hundreds of miles, to dense forests where it's hard to see as far as your hand. They can sing in frequencies we can't hear, detect colours that our eyes can't see and send messages in worlds of scent, electricity and polarized light that we can only imagine."

Could it be that it is us who misunderstand animal intelligence? If we had some sort of machine that would interpret animal calls, would we find out that animals were far more intelligent than we suspected? Would we hear things like "run away danger coming" or "tasty plants are just one mile ahead"? Animal intelligence may turn out to be a shock to all of us. No one ever believed that Koko would learn how to speak. She does find it hard to concentrate at times and some of her answers are only understood by her trainer but all in all she is one bright animal.

Talking and understanding speech and signals may not take as much brain power as first thought. On the other hand, having a big brain may not mean asa much as we first thought. Think of it this way, science is discovering how to jam more and more memory capability into a small space. It is said that the big break through in computer memory will be a cube that stores memory on all sides. It is not the size but the capability of the thing. The same may hold true for brains. Maybe a small brain will be able to accomplish far more, in some instances, then we formerly thought possible. With the right scientific training it may turn out that we would be able to speak to our pets and they would be able to answer with the aid of a computer or some similar device. Wouldn't that be interesting?