Bonobo pulls alarm for attention -- again

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Panbanisha the bonobo is up to her tricks again.



For the second time in as many months, the ape triggered a fire alarm at the Great Ape Trust of Iowa research center.

The trouble started Wednesday morning, when Panbanisha wanted to go outside but the staff was too busy to let her out, trust officials said. Panbanisha then apparently lost her temper and pulled the alarm, officials said.

It's a trick Panbanisha initially learned in October when she saw a welder start the alarm. It took her less than a day to learn how to duplicate the excitement.

When the alarm sounded the next morning, "I went to check on Pan, and she was sitting there next to it with a smile on her face," lead scientist Sue Savage-Rumbaugh said last month.

Savage-Rumbaugh said she explained the danger of such mischief and Panbanisha promised not to do it again.

Panbanisha is one of seven bonobos at the Great Ape Trust. Bonobos are one of the most human-like of the great apes and have sophisticated language skills.

Trust officials said they will cover the alarms to prevent a third prank from Panbanisha.

(If she's so SMART, why doesn't she let herself out?)