Between the massive box-office of A Minecraft Movie and the game’s continuing popularity, 2025 has been a good year for Minecraft fans. And at least two of those fans are apes who were taught how to play Minecraft at the Ape Cognition & Conservation Initiative in Iowa.

Via CBS News Iowa, the ACCI is dedicated to studying bonobos, an endangered species of apes who are closely related to humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas. The bonobos also have an astonishing ability to comprehend symbols and language, including the complex lexigrams they use to communicate with their human handlers. In the video below, it’s noted that two of the bonobos, Kanzi and Teko, learned to play Minecraft through a touchscreen interface. And according to the ACCI’s Sara Skiba, “It was actually Teko who had the kill shot on the Ender Dragon.”

Streamer ChrisDaCow posted a longer video a year ago about how Kanzi learned to play Minecraft through a reward system that demonstrated the game’s mechanics. Essentially, Kanzi was rewarded for mining with some of his favorite snacks. And he gradually picked up on other aspects of the game as he played it.

Unfortunately, Kanzi passed away earlier this year at the age of 44. According to the ACCI, Kanzi was renowned for his ability to understand conversational English even beyond the capabilities of his fellow bonobos.

The ACCI also notes that the future of their studies is currently in question while facing the potential loss of government funding. Regardless, the researchers remain committed to their mission.

“Here in central Iowa, we’re discovering so much about the species closest to us,” said ACI president and director Jared Taglialatela. “It’s reshaping our understanding of their species and our own.”