Being human: Apes get iPads at US zoo
24 Jan 2013 6:11 AM IST
Orangutans at a US National Zoo have been given iPads and are now using 10 different musical, drawing and gaming apps to keep occupied.
‘It’s about changing up the day-to-day lives of our animals,’ Becky Malinsky, a keeper at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, said.
‘We already vary their food, toys and social interactions, but the iPad offers another way to engage their sight, touch and hearing,’ Malinsky said.
The apes are using 10 different apps, including cognitive games, drawing programs and ones that feature virtual musical instruments, LiveScience reported.
Some of the orangutans are already showing their preferences. 36-year-old Bonnie likes to hit the drums, 16-year-old Kyle likes to play the piano and 25-year-old Iris likes watching animated fish swim in a virtual pond.
The iPads were made available through ‘Apps for Apes’, an initiative from the conservation organisation Orangutan Outreach, which has already provided tablet devices for the intelligent primates in 12 other zoos.
‘Primarily, we want the Apps for Apes program to help people understand why we need to protect wild orangutans from extinction,’ Richard Zimmerman, founding director of Orangutan Outreach, said.
‘We do that when we show zoo visitors how similar humans and apes are’ said Zimmerman.
‘It’s about changing up the day-to-day lives of our animals,’ Becky Malinsky, a keeper at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, said.
‘We already vary their food, toys and social interactions, but the iPad offers another way to engage their sight, touch and hearing,’ Malinsky said.
The apes are using 10 different apps, including cognitive games, drawing programs and ones that feature virtual musical instruments, LiveScience reported.
Some of the orangutans are already showing their preferences. 36-year-old Bonnie likes to hit the drums, 16-year-old Kyle likes to play the piano and 25-year-old Iris likes watching animated fish swim in a virtual pond.
The iPads were made available through ‘Apps for Apes’, an initiative from the conservation organisation Orangutan Outreach, which has already provided tablet devices for the intelligent primates in 12 other zoos.
‘Primarily, we want the Apps for Apes program to help people understand why we need to protect wild orangutans from extinction,’ Richard Zimmerman, founding director of Orangutan Outreach, said.
‘We do that when we show zoo visitors how similar humans and apes are’ said Zimmerman.
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