Chimpanzees and orangutans, two great ape species, can be found at the Houston Zoo. These amazing animals are incredibly intelligent. In the wild, this intelligence is constantly being put to the test as they encounter novel situations on a daily basis. To deal with these novel situations as well as completing everyday tasks, apes have developed keen problem solving skills. They use tools such as branches or rocks to help them obtain difficult food items such as nuts or termites. They build complicated nests out of branches and leaves each night high up in the trees to help keep them safe as they sleep. They use leaves to shelter them from rain or to collect water to drink.
Indah painting on iPad
Great apes that live in zoos such as the orangutans and chimpanzees have a team of dedicated keepers that ensure that their basic necessities such as food, water, and safe shelter are met on a daily basis. However, a zoo keeper’s job also involves ensuring that the animal has the highest quality of life possible. So not only are keepers interested in meeting the animal’s basic needs but also in making sure that the animals are constantly being engaged and stimulated by their environment. This is an especially important challenge when working with great apes due to their intelligence. The devices and activities that keepers use to accomplish this goal are referred to as enrichment as they enrich the lives of the animals.
Apes can quickly figure out many enrichment devices and keepers constantly are faced with the problem of trying to come up with new ideas to capture their interest. The Houston Zoo primate department’s newest solution to this problem is ……. the iPad!
Sally creating a masterpiece with a musical app.
Now many of you may wonder, what do the orangutans and chimpanzees do with an iPad? The answer is … they play with apps, of course! The iPad screen is the perfect fit for orangutan and chimpanzee fingers. Its small size makes it very easy to move so keepers can introduce it to the chimpanzees in the training room, to the orangutans at the viewing window or at any of the many rooms found in the animals’ holding area. The quantity and variety of apps available make it easy to keep the device novel and interesting for both the orangutans and the chimpanzees. Stay posted for more updates on this new fun enrichment project with our orangutans and chimpanzees!
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Great stuff!
That is amazing! Teach how to play Angry Birds!
This is awesome! But I’m wondering how you get them to a stage where they are not attempting to break the iPad? Do you use a lot of training to get them to that point? Are there only a select few that use the pad or everybody gets to use it?
Our next post “Learning how to use all this new technology is hard work!” explains how we introduced the iPad to everyone. All of the apes get a chance to interact with the iPad but some are more interested than others. Our juveniles of both species seem to enjoy it the most, often pushing others out of the way in order to play on the iPad.
This is sooo good