Japanese cat "Ebisu" may be the world's first literal copycat

In Ichinomiya, Japan, researchers have shown that a Japanese cat named "Ebisu" can imitate the actions of her owner - literally a "copycat".

Ebisu's owner, Fumi Higaki, runs a pet store in Japan where she runs regular dog training classes. Ebisu lives in the pet store and would often sneak into the dog training classes to imitate the behaviour needed to get rewards - tasty treats. Ebisu's high motivation for food made her easy to train.

Higaki demonstrated that Ebisu could copy familiar actions, like opening a plastic drawer and biting a rubber string. Then she asked the cat to imitate a new behaviour - while standing before Ebisu, who sat on a countertop next to a cardboard box, Higaki raised her right hand and tapped the box twice. See the video below for the recording of Ebisu performing this same action for the first time - what a remarkable cat!


Source:
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/09/kitty-see-kitty-do-cat-imitates-human-first-scientific-demonstration-behavior