Donkeys years ago, when the kids were little, we visited La Palmyre Zoo in France.

The apes were housed in an area about the size of a football pitch with a moat surrounding it, enveloped by  a smooth, concave wall about 12 feet high.  Spectators could watch from the top of the wall.

While we watched an ape ambled up to the moat, squatted, shat on its hand and threw it at us.  How we laughed!

Only later did it occur to me that the ape knew exactly what it was doing.  Specifically, it recognised:

1                 Its own captivity

2                 Who its captors were

3                 The futility of escape

4                 The significance, therefore, of its gesture

5                 The nature of “disgust” – (why else did it throw shit and not a stone)

The intellectual sophistication of what it did disturbs me still.

It was the saddest thing I’ve ever seen.