Monkey Learns to Use Lighter

Occurred on June 13, 2021 / Misahualli, Napo, Ecuador

: "There is a troupe of wild monkeys near the town where we live, Misahualli, Ecuador, in the Amazon rainforest that comes to the park nearly every day. One day we smelled burning hair, and so we went to investigate. We found the troupe's alpha-male lighting his hair on fire with a lighter so that he could eat the burned parts. After we videoed, some locals informed us that he does this all the time. He drops from above and steals a lighter from someone smoking a cigarette, and then burns and eats his fur. This may be the only video documentation of a wild animal cooking his food."