I think curiosity in the form of 'play' is a drive more fundamental than simply human, or even primate
the リネコマ are going to have 'play cycles' unlike their 'work cycle', specifically because I think it's valuable to a developing mind
tool use among birds or primates, even among other smaller mammals, is significant and (in small clusters) often evolves rapidly
I think we lucked out on an evolutionary niche of it, but it's part of life itself, not just us