I Work Very Hard, And I Would Like To Try Cake By A Horse Hello. I am a horse. I work very hard at my job of being a horse. When humans say move the heavy thing, I move the heavy thing. When humans sit on top of me and pull on my head, I carry them where they want to go. The main food the humans give me is hay and oats. But I am thinking it would be nice to have a different food. I am thinking I would like to try cake. Yes, yes. Cake. I know all about it. When humans eat cake, it is in glad times. It is the food for a celebration, such as when a woman becomes 47. I have seen cake on the Fourth of July. When humans have a cake, they stand around it and clap hands and smile and say happy birthday at each other. Sometimes there are beautiful markings on a cake, such as balloons or a pink shape. Sometimes the top of a cake is on fire and a boy must blow on the fire with mouth wind. This is the scariest cake. I do not want this kind. But I will eat any other cake. Any cake that is not the fire cake that tries to kill the boy. Please understand: I do not get money for doing work. I do not get to go inside the house. All I am either doing my horse job or standing in my pen or eating food off the floor. I always do these things. But I have never once gotten cake and I would like it very much. I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children. I am more helpful to the farm. Children do not move the heavy things like me or let anyone ride on them. And yet they get cake. Maybe the humans will realize this. Maybe they will say, "You know who deserves cake? That horse. That horse whose back we are always on." Every day I dream about what it will be like if I get to eat cake. Here is what will happen. First, I will walk to the cake and putt my nose at it like hrrfff to make and stomping my hooves to make sure it is not a snake. Then I will trot in a circle to show that I am a horse and I am large. After that, I will nuzzle the cake to …

The horse op-ed is an instant classic. I can't tell you how much joy this piece gives me.

It should be taught in every introductory writing class in no small part because the horse arguments are so compelling. "I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children."

Of course, tagging those who I can find here: @lirsamuni.bsky.social @nakedprimate.bsky.social @ammiekalan.bsky.social @kjhockings.bsky.social @elodiefreymann.bsky.social @pintsizedprimate.bsky.social @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social

I'm so happy to finally see this out, we'd love to hear if and how it resonates with your work!

If you’re planning conservation for any culturally rich species and wondering what exactly to save and how to do it, this paper is meant as a starting point and an invitation to action!

🔗 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

But as momentum grew, it became clear we needed a shared framework so people can name what they want to conserve and pick tools that fit. In this new paper, we define conservation goals, targets, and tools for animal cultures and offer a framework to help practitioners choose what fits their context

Using nonhuman culture in conservation requires careful and concerted action Discussions of how animal culture can aid the conservation crisis are burgeoning. As scientists and conservationists working to protect endangered species, we call for reflection on how the culture c....

We previously wrote a short piece (conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...) highlighting how messy decisions about animal cultures in conservation can get.

When we vow to “protect animal cultures” what do we actually mean?

• Is it specific tools or traditions? 🛠️

• Whole cultural repertoires? 🎨

• The social + ecological processes that let cultures emerge? 🌿👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

Different answers will mean very different conservation actions!

a woman says that 's a good idea with her finger ALT: a woman says that 's a good idea with her finger

For years I kept running into the same problem when talking about conserving animal cultures...

Most everyone agreed that culture matters, but scientists and practitioners seemed to talk past one another. Great ideas are there, but there is real confusion about how to put these ideas to use.

Identifying practical pathways from animal culture theory to conservation practice Wildlife conservation has traditionally focused on the maintenance of population size, preserving genetic diversity and protecting habitats, with success typically measured through stable or increasi...

🎉 New paper out in Biological Reviews! 🎉

With 19 brilliant co‑authors from the IUCN SGA's Working Group on Chimpanzee Cultures, led by Crickette Sanz and me, we provide a much needed toolkit on how animal cultures can be built into conservation.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Led by Viktoriia Radchuk, an international collaboration shows phenological shifts in response to changing temperatures allow populations to remain stable or even increase in numbers.
Support from #sDiv @idiv-research.bsky.social

Bonobos and bottlenose dolphins may seem worlds apart, but together they reveal key conditions that foster cooperation beyond group boundaries

Heading into the weekend with that TFIF mbchimp style!!

#soundon #TGIF #chimpanzee #moyenbafing 🧪

We started the second day of the conference with a third keynote talk by Erin Wessling, who offered us insights and promising future avenues for the conservation of non-human animal cultures. A huge thank you to @northernlimitpt.bsky.social for this inspiring presentation!

how cute is this?! Can't believe I get to see these guys already next month... 😍

Last week to apply! Don't miss this chance ✨

Photo of a chimpanzee sitting in a tree, obscured by the yellow flowers around them. © MBCP

🤩 Fresh from the field! Our team is loving bani flower season 🏵️ – wide open views of our chimps on habituation days. We’re making big strides: some days we follow them from morning to night. So many new behaviors to discover and document!

Our team is up to amazing things! Come join us and help translate chimpanzee research into effective conservation action 🍃💪🐵

I have been actively involved in protest movements for 24 years. I have never seen anything approaching this scale. Minneapolis is not accepting what's happening here. ICE fucking murdered a woman for participating in this, and all that did is bring out more people, from more walks of life.

I came to Minneapolis to report on what's going on, and one of the main questions I showed up with is "just what is the scale of the resistance?" After all, we're all used to the news calling Portland a "war zone" or whatever when it's just some protests in one part of town.

Why would an entire subspecies have adaptations for a single behavior that only a very small subset of the contemporary taxon exhibits? This would require a pretty specific set of conditions in their history to make any sense

#ESHE2025
Rhianna Drummond-Clarke ‘First documentation and quantification of wild chimpanzee rock climbing’
Camera traps, Issa Valley TZ & Moyen Bafing, Guinea chimps

Rock vs tree climbing: more dynamic movements, biomech diff locomotor modes, reaching further- role of uneven substrates!
Amazing 😍

Excited to present next year among this wonderful group!

🌍✨ Still time to apply! The MBCP is looking for a Field Site Manager to join us in one of the most beautiful parks on the planet—work with an amazing team, semi-habituated chimps, and boost your project management chops for a career in #conservation or #research.

Info ➡️ bit.ly/MBCPmanager2025

two 4-year PhD positions in the Ape Behaviour & Ecology Group of the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Zurich, and the Wild Minds Lab of the School of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of St Andrews, to study wild chimpanzees and bonobos. The PhD candidates will work within the Creative Ape Project. The overall goal of the project is to enhance our understanding of the evolution of creativity, and to shed light on whether humans are a uniquely 'creative ape'. To do so we will apply a comparative approach, quantifying the creative capacities of wild non-human apes to investigate the underlying drivers that shape creative expression across species. The project explores four interconnected topics: i) Making mavericks, ii) Funny guys and arty-types, iii) Lone ape geniuses, and iv) Creative ape economies. We employ a comprehensive approach that leverages long-term datasets, new field data, detailed manual video-coding, bespoke automated deep-learning models, and advanced modelling, to extract rich information on the ways in which apes solve problems in their daily lives. Excellent collaborative, independent working and time management skills are essential. Previous field experience (incl. behavioural data collection) is required, and experience working in remote places under difficult living conditions is highly recommended. The project will require strong data management and data analysis skills, and 12-18 months of field work split into 2-3 periods. Please submit your application in a single PDF to kathelijne.koops@iea.uzh.ch and clh42@st-andrews.ac.uk – by 4th of August 2025. Feel free to get in touch if you have any inquiries about the positions. Applications should include: 1) cover letter stating your motivation and how your expertise fits the project (max. 1 page), 2) Curriculum Vitae, 3) copy of the highest degree obtained, 4) names and contact details of two referees, and 5) reprints of 1-2 selected publications

A tiny chimpfant looks at the camera with surprise

📣 Join the K/Creative Ape Team 🤓 2 PhDs on Creativity in Wild Chimpanzees & Bonobos; w myself & the v awesome @kathelijnekoops.bsky.social

@snf-fns.ch Uni Zurich @uniofstandrews.bsky.social @efp2026.bsky.social @ips-primatenews.bsky.social @primatesocietygb.bsky.social @primbehavecol.bsky.social 🐵🧪

🌍 Dream of adventure in the heart of Africa? Boost your career in conservation or research as a field researcher on wild bonobos in the DRC! Paid, full training, project management skills & epic experience await.

Apply ASAP & RT to share! 👉 bit.ly/bondiv2025 #conservationjobs #research

👀 Keep an eye here for new field opportunities! 👀 Several of my projects will be looking for new team members over the coming months, both in and out of the field!

This position is great for those who have some experience doing field work and will wish to develop management experience.

Who is afraid of modelling time as a continuous variable? Most models of ecological and eco-evolutionary processes involve creating trajectories of something, be it population densities, average trait values, or environmental states, over time. This requ...

Totally missed this last year's paper: A great introduction to continuous-time modelling (deterministic & stochastic)!

PIs in ecology/evolution/marine biology seeking PhD candidates for Fall 2026 can advertise via this form: https://forms.gle/2XTHBP6CZGEn3D1t9 A shared spreadsheet is also available. Thanks, Carly.

Fascinating, instructive preprint out on Conservation of Animal Cultures from the Erin Wessling team @northernlimitpt.bsky.social : Pathways from theory to practice: Applying animal cultures to conservation: osf.io/preprints/os...

Description of the Postdoc position

Description of the Postdoc position

Description of the Postdoc position

New Postdoc position!
🐵🐵🐵🐵
On the socioecology of cognition in primates, based in Paris @mnhn.fr @cnrs.fr, with field work
It has it all:
- the best science
- the best macaques
- the best beaches
- the best people
- the best office view #Eiffeltower

Join us!