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Zookeepers at two zoos in the Czech Republic have installed large screens in the chimpanzee enclosures to allow their bored chimpanzees to interact via video calls.
The FaceTime experience was set up to help stimulate the chimps, who failed to interact with visitors during the lockdown.
The screens were installed on March 11 in the empty viewing areas of Dvůr Králové Safari Park and Brno Zoo. A two-way video call between the screens enabled the monkeys of the two zoos to see each other for up to 8 hours a day, although they were silent.
So far, chimps seem to be embracing the new technology.
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“The campaign was a great success and we couldn’t be happier and more proud,” Michal Šťastný, a spokesperson for Dvůr Králové Safari Park, told Live Science. “Even other zoos have decided to take the concept and work with it.”
Intelligent animals
Zoos have the difficult task of keeping the most sociable and intelligent animals engaged and thriving.
“Chimpanzees are very intelligent and therefore need a lot of stimuli to keep them active, agile and happy,” Šťastný said. “The key is to keep finding new ways and kinds of enrichment every day to keep them busy.”
Normally, zookeepers are constantly finding new ways to entertain chimpanzees and use a variety of toys, foods, and equipment to challenge and keep them entertained. However, during the lockdown, zookeepers struggled to replicate the benefits chimpanzees derive from interacting with human (and non-human) visitors.
“Chimpanzees like to watch people and also their dogs, which are allowed in the zoo,” Šťastný said. “Sometimes they like little games with visitors, like chasing them, yelling at them, and other regular chimpanzee games.”
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 pandemic, the safari park has been closed for months. “The zoo has been closed for almost 200 days,” Šťastný said. “This project shows people that the zoo doesn’t sleep and that the animals need our daily care.”
Successful screen time
FaceTiming with other chimpanzees appears to have partially replaced the stimulation the monkeys got when interacting with visitors.
“Everything that is new is very interesting for them,” Šťastný said. “Especially during the first few days, the group carefully inspected what was going on.”
The chimps clearly knew they were using video because they were constantly looking to see what was behind the screen, Šťastný said. But the chimps also seemed to understand that the chimps and the guardians on the screen could see them too.
“Some of them would bring their own food to show off to other chimpanzees like they would regular newbies,” Šťastný said. “The chimps also seem to enjoy watching the Brno zookeepers do their job.”
All six of Dvůr Králové’s chimps participated in the video call at one point, but a young female, known simply as M, seemed more interested in screen time than some of the older residents.
“Sometimes chimps seem so interested in the screen that they refuse to move from one enclosure to another when the keepers need to clean it,” Šťastný said.
While FaceTiming has been a big hit in zoos, the project is likely to end within the next two weeks, Šťastný said, as they predict chimpanzees will tire of it eventually.
“The video streaming has been a big success, but over time the chimpanzee’s attention will probably wane,” Šťastný said. “That’s why the keepers keep coming [up] with new ways to enrich every day. “
Originally posted on Live Science.
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