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             Zoos Provide Visitors, Orangutans Chance to Co-mingle

   by Rebecca Widiss

   Computer games aren't just for humans anymore. Orangutans, especially
   young ones, like playing them. And giving these gentle apes "computer
   time" is just one way that zoos are bringing down the walls - sometimes
   literally - between humans and their simian relatives.

   Open-air, no walls exhibit
   Orangutans and humans are remarkably similar - and not just because
   they share 97 percent of our DNA. They often make tools. They're one of
   very few species that can recognize themselves in a mirror. And they
   can learn new languages. Some, living near humans in Southeast Asia,
   have even begun to use canoes.  For zoos, these similarities raise a
   profound question: What kind of orangutan exhibit makes sense? Perhaps
   none at all. Every morning at the [1]Singapore Zoo, visitors and
   orangutans simply join each other for breakfast in an open-air
   pavilion.

   "It feels really amazing. You know, you're really close to them. And
   they tell you not to reach out for the baby orangutans, because the
   mothers will get very possessive," said Beckman. "But everyone's kind
   of calm. And I did feel safe."

   ''Chicago resident John Beckman took photos of his unusual breakfast,
   to prove to friends back home that he truly stood just centimeters away
   from the apes. Cross-species breakfasts are a 25 year tradition at the
   zoo. But Beckman says it would be hard to imagine something like that
   here in the United States.

   "I don't know what it would take. You know lawyers tend to start
   [conducting] risk analyses, when something like this happens," Beckman
   stated. "But I would love it, because I think it really gives you a
   greater appreciation of the animals."

   Six years ago, the Singapore Zoo took down even more walls. Now
   orangutans use a combination of real and artificial trees to move
   around the zoo. Often, they swing right over visitors' heads.

   U.S. zoo following openness concept
   Halfway around the world in the American Midwest, the [2]Indianapolis
   Zoo is also creating canopy-height trails. When the zoo's International
   Orangutan Center opens in 2014, it will feature different cross-species
   activities, like computer games.
   Robert Shumaker is Vice President of Life Sciences at the zoo. "They'll
   have a chance to do memory games, where both the person and the ape
   have to remember where things are and work together to solve that
   task," he explained. "Or they may have the opportunity to do things
   just for fun, like something that will simulate finger painting."

   Visitors and apes will also take turns using tools to release a reward.

   "The apes will get tokens that they can use basically like money. We
   actually are creating something like a vending machine. There might be
   special foods in there. Maybe if it's getting into the evening, they
   might want to have a special blanket to cover up with," Shumaker added.
   "One of the really interesting questions is whether or not they might
   try to hide their tokens from the other apes or possibly even from
   us."

   Amy Parish has spent 20 years studying apes in captivity. The
   University of Southern California primatologist says many apes seem
   quite happy in zoos with plenty of greenery and stimulating challenges.
   And, she says, zoos do something equally important for the humans who
   come to see them.

   "They engage the public so that they fall in love with these species
   and start caring about what's going to happen to them. I think the next
   step for zoos is to move not only in the direction of interactive
   exhibits, but exhibits where the apes get to provoke certain behaviors
   in us. I'd love to be one of their first volunteers," she said.

   And, experts say, the more engaging zoos are, the more likely they can
   help promote conservation in the wild.
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References

   1. http://www.zoo.com.sg/exhibits-zones/free-ranging-orang-utan.html#ad-image-0
   2. http://www.indyzoo.com/SitePages/home.aspx
   3. http://www.voanews.com/content/zoos-provides-visitors-orangutans-chance-to-comingle/1454875.html