MI-26: Fascination with fire

Chimpanzees in the wild show considerable fear of fire, which is usually started by lightning in the jungle. Fire can be dangerous to fur-covered animals: if your fur catches fire you may burn to death. So this fear is quite reasonable in a wild chimpanzee.

But Viki overcame her fear of fire and enjoyed playing with it. Here we see her fascination with an old-fashioned liquid-petroleum lighter ignited by spinning a rough-edged steel wheel against a flint. Viki has mastered this art, which is not as easy as it sounds: the small wheel must be spun quickly to produce the necessary shower of sparks that ignites the lighter fluid. Viki uses “cheek puffs” to blow out the flame, not a deep breath from her lungs. She also holds her open mouth above the flame, perhaps enjoying the sensation of the hot plume in her mouth.