The Chimpcam Project

The Chimpcam Project is a documentary featuring the first movie to be filmed entirely by chimpanzees. The chimpanzees do this using a "chimpcam" - a video recorder housed in a chimpanzee-proof box. The device is used by 11 chimpanzees living at the Edinburgh Zoo in the U.K. The experiment was the idea of producer John Capener ^[1]and became part of the studies of primatologist Betsy Herrelko^[2], who is studying for a Ph.D. in primate behaviour at the University of Stirling. The documentary was a co-production between the BBC strand Natural World ^[3]and Animal Planet. It premiered on BBC Two on January 27, 2010.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]}

The "chimpcam"

The "chimpcam" consists of a receiver which is housed in a special chimpanzee-proof casing. Chimps can see the video images various cameras are capturing and can decide via touch screen "...whether to watch footage of their outside enclosure, or the food preparation room, where zoo staff prepare the chimps' meals."

References

1. ^ Burning Gold Productions
2. ^ Chimpcam.com, Chimpcam Official Website
3. ^ BBC 2 Programmes 2009-10, Natural World minisite
4. ^ Movie made by chimpanzees to be broadcast on television, BBC, January 25, 2010
5. ^ Edinburgh Zoo Primates Zoom in on The Chimpcam Project, Deadline Scotland, January 25, 2010
6. ^ Bananavision! Chimps given special video camera to make their own film, The Daily Mail, January 20, 2010
7. ^ BBC in television first with chimpanzee-made movie, metro.co.uk, January 25, 2010
8. ^ Chimps at city zoo get behind the camera for BBC documentary, Scotsman, January 25, 2010
9. ^ BBC to air world's first film shot by chimpanzees, canada.com, January 25, 2010