Zoo orangutans embrace the iPad

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MILWAUKEE, Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Keepers at the Milwaukee County Zoo have discovered orangutans love iPads.

The apes love looking at video of themselves and other orangutans, and enjoy apps like finger painting, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Wednesday. In fact, keepers say, electronic finger painting works better than the real thing, because orangutans also like to eat paint.

"It's like colored pudding," said Claire Richard, the primary gorilla keeper.

The orangutans are also fond of Virtuoso, Doodle Buddy, Koi Pond, Magic Piano, Fish Farm and Tap Drums. Mahal, one of the male orangutans, enjoys watching a video made by freelance photographer Scott Engel, who donated the zoo's first iPad, that features the orangutan as a secret agent.

While the apes do not get to hold the iPads, they are sometimes allowed to touch the screen.

Keepers tried iPads on gorillas and found them less inclined to embrace new technology.

"They were all very scared," Richard said. "It's a different species. Orangutans are curious about everything. Gorillas are afraid of everything."