Zookeepers at 12 zoos across the country are experimenting with how orangutans use iPads and the results are really amazing. I guess you could say… “There's an ape for that!”
Twelve zoos across the country have joined the "Apps For Apes" program, experimenting with how apes interact with iPads.
Source: smithsonianscience.org
According to Becky Malinsky, great ape keeper at the Smithsonian National Zoo, the iPads offer a new way to engage with apes:
"Apps for Apes fits perfectly in this new era of zoo keeping… It's about changing up the day-to-day lives of our animals. We already vary their food, toys and social interactions every day, but the iPad offers another way to engage their sight, touch and hearing."
As zookeepers learn which apps the apes prefer, the National Zoo's app collection has grown in the past few months. The apps the orangutans use run the gamut from music-makers to brain games.
Source: youtube.com
According to the Smithsonian's video above, each ape has different preferences as to which apps they like to use. Which is amazing and awesome.
Source: redapes.org
