Here’s a story I wasn’t expecting to find this morning.  It’s about Apes who are actually using, interacting with, and watching videos on… the iPad.  That’s right, Apes are now using iPads.  I would’ve thought that Apes, if ever handed an iPad, would simply destroy it, try to eat it, or simply throw it approximately 300 feet through the air.  But the story below, covered by Reuters, proves otherwise:

Humans aren’t the only species on the planet with a penchant for electronic gadgets. Zookeepers across the United States and Canada are discovering that apes also get excited about apps.

As part of a program called Apps for Apes, 12 zoos across the two countries have been incorporating iPads into the enrichment time allotted for orangutans, the giant furry red primates native to Indonesia and Malaysia.

“We’re finding that, similar to people, they like touching the tablet, watching short videos of David Attenborough for instance, and looking at other animals and orangutans,” said Richard Zimmerman, founding director of Orangutan Outreach, the New York City-based non-profit that runs the program.

Twice weekly, orangutans are provided with access to the tablets. The animals spend from 15 minutes to a half hour using different apps depending on their attention span.

Apps geared towards children that stimulate activities such as painting, music and memory games are among the most popular apps with the apes.

At the Toronto Zoo, zookeeper Matthew Berridge uses apps such as Doodle Buddy for drawing, Montessori Counting Board and Activity Memo Pocket, a memory game, in addition to playing YouTube videos for the apes.

>>  Read the rest of the story at HuffingtonPost.com