Zoo animals get paid as workers… and vote

People have been trying to teach animals language for hundreds of years in scientific (research zoos like Koko the Gorilla), and informal contexts. If any non-human animal had any capacity for advanced language or reasoning someone would have done it already. The incentives for the first person to ever do this are huge - you'd be an instant millionaire and celebrity. Also, even if chimps and parrots could be taught language alongside a few others, this still ignores the fact that this is biologically impossible for many animals beyond a shadow of a doubt. High intelligence is an evolutionary trait that requires a lot of energy being supplied to the brain and respiratory systems. This means that any animal we see with a significantly reduced energy expenditure (most reptiles can go days, if not weeks, on a single meal) cannot have the prerequisite brain function due to how energy intensive it is.