Kanzi, the world’s most celebrated bonobo who learned to communicate and play Minecraft with humans, died last week in Iowa, U.S., at the age of 44.
Ape Initiative, a research organization in the city of Des Moines dedicated to the study and conservation of endangered bonobos (Pan paniscus) and where Kanzi lived since 2004, said he died unexpectedly on March 18 at its facility surrounded by his bonobo family.
As of March 21, the group said it had yet to receive the necropsy results. It added that Kanzi was being treated for heart disease, although on the day he died, he “was his normal, happy self” and did not show signs of illness.
“Born on October 28, 1980, Kanzi lived a full and remarkable life, captivating the hearts of everyone he met. He inspired people to learn about and help protect bonobos for more than four decades,” the organization said in its news release.
Kanzi first learned to communicate with humans at Georgia State University. Researchers there had failed to teach his adoptive mother, Matata, the human language, but they soon learned that Kanzi, who would accompany his mother and observe the interactions, was able to understand spoken English and communicate through a lexigram, a board with symbols conveying specific messages.
Kanzi was not the first ape to learn to communicate with humans; he was unique for developing an interest in the symbols on his own. He also grasped abstract concepts and combined symbols to create new meaning, Scientific American wrote. When Kanzi was 8 years old, he outperformed a 2-year-old human child when given 660 spoken instructions, a study found.
Upon hearing the news of Kanzi’s death, primatologist Jill Pruetz wrote on social media: “The first time I met Kanzi, I was Fangirl nervous and asked how I should greet him – with a pant grunt like in chimps? No, I was told. Just speak English.”
Pruetz added that her favorite story about Kanzi was one where he described a “scary” beaver in his outdoor habitat with the symbols “water” and “gorilla.”
“Rest in peace dear Kanzi. You have enriched many a human’s mind,” Pruetz wrote.
Kanzi has been described online as the world’s smartest ape. A number of YouTube videos showcase his intelligence, with content creators interacting with him in intelligence tests and video games from Pac-Man to Minecraft. While humans first taught him to use stone tools, he also developed his own method of sharpening stones. This earned him the title of “bonobo genius.”
“Kanzi’s eagerness to interact with humans, enthusiasm for problem-solving, and love of food made for the fun-loving, motivated, and impactful ape that Kanzi was,” Ape Initiative said. “Kanzi gifted us with a window into the minds of our closest living relatives, and his lessons about the bonobo species, as well as our own, will continue to live on.”
This article by Kristine Sabillo was first published by Mongabay.com on 27 March 2025. Lead Image: Kanzi by William H. Calvin via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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