Treetop Panbanisha
August 18, 2011
Written by Al Setka, Director of Communications
When Panbanisha climbed up a large ash tree at Great Ape Trust, I'm not sure who enjoyed it more - the bonobo or the video crew shooting a documentary for BBC Television.
The sequence began with Panbanisha wanting a campfire near the Great Ape Trust lake to roast marshmallows and hot dogs. To build the fire, Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh explained to Panbanisha that she would need to collect branches and twigs. But before she would begin, and to make Panbanisha more comfortable, the BBC camera crew had to be properly positioned in a boat just off shore.
Rather than picking up firewood off the ground, Panbanisha scaled the tree to collect her twigs - gathering them in one hand, then the other and eventually in her mouth. She then carefully dropped the twigs to the ground were Dr. Sue collected them and began the fire.
It took the departure of the film crew and some gentle coaxing by Dr. Sue and research assistant Liz Rubert-Pugh before Panbanisha gave up her arboreal perch for the fireside snacks.
View a slideshow of Treetop Panbanisha in the box below.
