Top News

Barnes & Noble Launches Cheaper Nook Tablet to Compete with Fire

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 Takes on IPad 3

"Butt Art" IPad App Digitizes Drawing Tutorials

Tablets, E-Reader Sales Surge Over Holidays

Tablets Boost Spending Online

More News >

Apple iPad 2

The Milwaukee County Zoo lets orangutans play with iPads every week, according to MSNBC, showing them pictures, videos, games and even letting them touch the screen.

This experiment started as a practical joke, according to Scott Engel, the iPad Enrichment Coordinator at the zoo.

"A friend of a friend who is a gorilla keeper at the zoo was half-joking about getting an iPad to use with gorillas after seeing a story in the UK Sun," Engel said.

Engel now visits the zoo three to four times per week, showing orangutans MJ and Mahal how to use iFishPond, Flick Kick Football and The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore.

"We'll show the orangutans videos of themselves, videos of wild orangutans, and other animals that reside at the zoo," Engel said. "This has been very successful and really seems to hold their interest."

Orangutans are intelligent creatures that require mental stimulation to avoid depression and boredom. The iPads meet their needs by giving them something to watch, touch, listen to and interact with. Engel says the primates look forward to their weekly iPad sessions, perhaps even a little too much.

"In fact I think orangutan MJ has a crush on David Attenborough," Engel chuckled. "Whenever he comes on to narrate a scene, her eyes light up and she just stares."

In the future, Engel hopes the iPad program will take off in Atlanta, Toronto, Phoenix and many other cities that have shown interest in the idea. He also plans to create a "Primate Playdate" app that lets orangutans better communicate among themselves by checking iPads to talk with others who are "online."

Engel and his team do face one difficulty though, as executive director of Orangutan Outreach Richard Zimmerman pointed out.

"One of the biggest hurdles we face is that an orangutan can snap an iPad like you or I could rip cardboard," he said. "Even the little guys like Mahal are incredibly strong. A big male could take it apart in about five seconds."