By Damien Gayle


This chilled out chimp doesn't give a monkey's what anyone thinks as he soaks up the sunshine in a Chinese zoo.

Lying on the ground with his legs crossed and a hand behind his head, his pose shows just how similar humans are to our closest cousins in the animal kingdom.

Normally found in the forests of West and Central Africa, chimpanzees have been found to share about 94 per cent of their DNA with humans.


Not going ape: This chilled out chimp doesn't seem to have the inclination to put on a performance for visitors to the zoo in Shijiazhuang, China, where he lives

They are notorious for their aggression, but are famously clever and have been observed to behave altruistically and even spiritually.

In the wild, they use tools - including spears, even - for hunting, dance rain dances, and appear to show appreciation for natural beauty such as sunsets over a lake.

This simian was seen slouching in his pen at a zoo in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province.

He looks relaxed, but his face seems to betray a sense of melancholy. Perhaps, so far away from his native forests, he is simply missing home.


source:dailymail