Do Chimps Possess Culture? Culture can be defined in so many different ways. None of them are really wrong but none can be said to be absolutely one-hundred percent correct. The definition of culture is constantly being modified and changed to suit one's needs at that time, so it is always under construction. The definition I like the most is "A system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that members of a society …showed first 75 words of 344 total…

…showed last 75 words of 344 total…sign language. Some of those chimps have passed it down to other chimps that reside in the same area. Which is great if they need to communicate with us humans. But wild chimps don't need this. It isn't essential to their survival, so it wouldn't be transmitted from generation to generation. Surely they have other means of communication amongst themselves. So maybe they do have culture, it just isn't what we think culture should be.