Renowned chimpanzee Ai dies at 49 in Japan
Ai, a chimpanzee known for her cognitive abilities to recognize letters from different alphabets and numbers, has died at the age of 49 in Japan, having contributed to scientific research with her skills.
- Life
- Agencies and A News
- Published Date: 12:29 | 13 January 2026
According to a report by the Kyodo news agency, a statement was made by the Primate Research Institute at Kyoto University regarding her death. The statement explained that Ai, born in West Africa in 1976 and brought to the center in Aichi Prefecture, Japan in 1977, died of multiple organ failure due to old age at 49.
Starting language learning with various materials including computers at 18 months old, the female chimpanzee Ai exhibited advanced literacy skills, such as recognizing and indicating the Kanji character for "green" after seeing a green image. Discovered in 1989 to be capable of unlocking her cage using a key, Ai contributed to numerous studies on the chimpanzee mind.
It was noted that the skills displayed by Ayumu, a male chimpanzee born to Ai in 2000, also attracted attention in studies on knowledge transmission between parent and offspring, earning Ai the nickname "Genius Chimpanzee."