Video Clip Suggests Orangutans Understand Magic Tricks

Magic tricks are a fun kind of entertainment to sit back and enjoy, but are humans the only species on Earth that can understand them?

A video clip shared on Outrageous Acts of Science suggests that even orangutans, which share up to 97% of their DNA with humans, also understand something called ‘object permanence,' which means that the object is always going to be there, even if some magic foolery misplaces it.

Many forms of what we call "magic" are none other than illusions performed by skilled slight hands, which know how to distract you from what's actually going on. Although the ape may not have seen the slight-handing, it did seem to understand the trick, as it busted out with a smile in the end.

Orangutans are very intelligent creatures. It's a shame the Bornean Orangutan was just listed as a critically endangered species.