Apps for Apes

24oktober2012
Source: vroegevogels.vara.nl
Humans aren't the only ones who love electronic gadgets: apes can also appreciate them. In Canadian and US zoos, it was discovered that orangutans were interested in apps. Twelve zoos introduced tablets for the apes.
The program ‘Apps for Apes’, developed by Orangutan Outreach, provided the tablets for the orangutans. Caretakers discovered that the animals liked to use the touch screen to watch David Attenborough videos about orangutans or other animals. The orangutans are allowed to use various applications on the tablets twice a week for fifteen to thirty minutes at a time, depending on their attention span. The orangs’ favourites are apps for painting, making music and memory training, all designed for children to stimulate learning in these areas. The intelligence of orangutans is comparable to that of young children; they are among the most intelligent primates.