What bonobo learned to communicate using lexigrams?

The bonobo that learned to communicate using lexigrams was Kanzi.

Kanzi became famous through research led by primatologist Sue Savage-Rumbaugh and colleagues. He used a keyboard or board marked with lexigrams—abstract symbols linked to words—to communicate requests, activities, places, and other ideas with human caretakers.

A notable part of Kanzi’s story is that he appeared to acquire the system partly by observing lessons given to his adoptive mother, Matata. Researchers were surprised by how quickly he began using symbols, rather than requiring the same intensive direct training expected in earlier ape-language experiments.

Kanzi also showed an ability to respond to many spoken English instructions, sometimes combining lexigrams with gestures or actions. Lexigrams were not ordinary written words, and his abilities remain part of an ongoing scientific debate about animal language. Still, Kanzi is the canonical bonobo associated with lexigram communication.