11 Animals That Use Tools in the Wild - Animals Around The Globe

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For a long time, tool use was treated as a dividing line. Humans made and used tools, and everyone else, supposedly, did not. Then researchers started watching more closely, and the line got blurry fast.

Today, scientists have documented tool use in animals ranging from apes to birds to fish to insects. Some of it is surprisingly sophisticated, and some of it is still debated. Here are eleven animals worth knowing about, and what they actually do.

Chimpanzees

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Chimpanzees are the classic example. Jane Goodall’s observations in Tanzania in the early 1960s showed wild chimps stripping leaves from twigs and poking them into termite mounds to fish out insects. That finding forced scientists to rethink what set humans apart.

Since then, chimps have been recorded using stones to crack nuts, sponges made of chewed leaves to soak up water, and sharpened sticks for hunting small animals in some communities. Different groups have different habits, which suggests tool traditions can be passed along socially rather than being purely instinctive.

Bonobos and Orangutans

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I’m combining two close relatives here because the picture for each is a bit more modest or more varied than for chimps. Orangutans in some regions of Sumatra and Borneo use sticks to extract seeds from fruit and to probe for insects or honey. They also use leaves in various ways, such as for handling spiny fruit.

Bonobos are less famous for , though they’ve been seen using leaves and sticks in simple ways, and they do so much more readily in captivity. It’s a reminder that what we see in the wild depends heavily on what researchers get to observe.

Capuchin Monkeys

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Capuchins in Brazil are remarkable stone users. They pick up heavy rocks and pound open hard palm nuts against flat surfaces, sometimes called anvils. The stones can be big relative to the monkey’s body, so it takes real effort and coordination.

Archaeologists have even studied old capuchin tool sites in Brazil, treating them a bit like a record of monkey technology across generations. Young capuchins watch adults and gradually improve, which looks a lot like learning by observation.

Long-Tailed Macaques

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Some long-tailed macaques living on the coasts of Thailand and Myanmar use stones to open shellfish and crack oysters. They also have a habit that surprised researchers: using stones, and even hair, as dental floss in certain populations.

That kind of behavior isn’t just about food. It shows that tools can serve grooming or comfort, and that local habits can spread inside a group. It’s not a single species-wide trait, which makes it all the more interesting.

New Caledonian Crows

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If any bird deserves a spot at the top of this list, it’s the New Caledonian crow. These birds make tools from twigs and from the edges of barbed leaves, shaping them into hooks and probes to pull grubs out of crevices. Their tools are carefully made, and the birds often carry them around for reuse.

Lab and field work has shown they can solve multi-step puzzles, too. Researchers continue to study how much of this is learned and how much is inherited, and the answer seems to be a mix of both.

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Woodpecker Finches

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Found on the Galápagos Islands, the woodpecker finch has a beak that can’t reach insects deep inside branches the way a real woodpecker’s can. So it picks up a twig or a cactus spine, trims it if needed, and uses it to winkle prey out of holes.

This is one of the best known examples of tool use in a bird other than the crows. Studies suggest that both experience and some inherited tendency matter, which fits the broader pattern seen across tool users.

Sea Otters

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Sea otters float on their backs with a rock on their chest and smash shellfish against it. Some individuals keep a favorite stone tucked into a pouch of loose skin under the arm. It’s hard not to find that charming.

The behavior matters for their survival, since otters have a high metabolism and need lots of food. Not every otter does this, and individuals tend to specialize, with some relying on tools far more than others.

Elephants

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Elephants use their trunks with impressive dexterity. They’ve been seen breaking off branches to swat flies, scratching themselves with sticks, and in some cases modifying branches before using them.

There are also reports of elephants dropping heavy objects or stacking things to reach food, though much of the more elaborate evidence comes from captive animals. In the wild, the documented cases tend to be simpler, but they show a flexible mind at work.

Octopuses

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The veined octopus has become a celebrated example among invertebrates. Researchers in Indonesia documented individuals collecting discarded coconut shell halves, carrying them across the seafloor, and assembling them as portable shelters. That counts as tool use because the shells are carried and used later, not just stumbled upon.

Octopuses are short lived and mostly solitary, so they can’t learn much from elders. Still, their problem solving ability is well established, which makes this finding especially intriguing.

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Tuskfish and Other Wrasses

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Fish were once assumed to be unlikely tool users, yet several wrasses, including tuskfish, have been filmed smashing clams against rocks or coral to break them open. Observers have seen them carry clams to a favored spot and hit them repeatedly until the shell cracks.

These observations helped change how scientists think about fish cognition. It’s not the same thing as a crow bending a wire, but it’s real, deliberate behavior using an object in the environment.

Antlions, Ants, and Other Insects

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Insects usually get overlooked here, though some do use tools. Certain ants have been observed carrying bits of leaf, mud, or wood to soak up liquid food and bring it back to the nest, effectively using a sponge. Some species of digger wasps use small pebbles to pack down soil over their nests.

Researchers still debate how to define insect tool use, and how much of it is flexible rather than automatic. Even so, these examples show that small brains can produce surprisingly clever solutions.

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Final Thoughts

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My view is that the old human exceptionalism around tools has aged badly. Tool use shows up in lineages that are only distantly related, which suggests that when an animal faces a tough food problem and has the right body and a flexible brain, inventing a solution isn’t unusual.

That doesn’t make humans less impressive. We took it further than anyone, but we weren’t alone at the starting line, and it’s worth watching the other animals with a little more respect.

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Gargi Chakravorty

Gargi is an MA in History and a B.Ed graduate from India, with a deep passion for animals and wildlife awareness. As an article writer and editor at Animals Around The Globe, she combines her love for storytelling with her dedication to educating readers about animals, conservation, and responsible pet care. A devoted dog lover, Gargi enjoys creating engaging and informative content that inspires compassion and awareness toward the natural world.

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Chimpanzees

Bonobos and Orangutans

Capuchin Monkeys

Long-Tailed Macaques

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New Caledonian Crows

Woodpecker Finches

Sea Otters

Elephants

Octopuses

Tuskfish and Other Wrasses

Antlions, Ants, and Other Insects

Final Thoughts

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