Orangutans Playing with Video Games!

At Zoo Atlanta in Atlanta Georgia, Orangutans are playing video games! Four-year-old Bernas and his mother Madu are learning to use a touch-screen system built into a tree-like structure while researchers study their cognitive skills. Researchers are hoping that by studying the orangutans thinking process, they will be able to discover what the primates need to survive. This whole experiment is very important because the whole orangutan population is expected to completely disappear within the next decade, so this video game experiment may help provide keys to their survival and show people how smart orangutans really are. Not only are researchers learning, but video cameras enable visitors to watch the primates' every move from in front of the exhibit.
The computer games that the orangutans play around on test the primates' memory, reasoning, and learning. The computer games consist of various mini games, including matching sounds and pictures and even creating their own drawings. Correct answers in these games are awarded with food pellets. Hopefully, this new experiment will lead to the answers researchers are looking for in order to keep the estimated 37,000 orangutans from becoming extinct.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/04/12/orangutan.videogames.ap/index.html