[ti:Orangutans With iPads]
[ar:]
[al:Technology Report]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]From VOA Learning English,
[00:02.25]this is the Technology Report in Special English.
[00:06.88]Recently we reported on a program called Apps for Apes.
[00:12.87]It was started by the New York-based
[00:15.36]nonprofit organization Orangutan Outreach.
[00:19.78]The program which introduces Apple's iPad
[00:23.53]to orangutans in zoos 
[00:26.65]sparked an interest among our listeners.
[00:29.90]We decided to answer some of the questions they sent in.
[00:33.88]But first, we had our own question:
[00:37.71]how to pronounce the name of the ape.
[00:41.25]Many people wrongly say "orangutang," with a G at the end.
[00:46.99]Maybe, because orangutans are orange,
[00:50.62]people relate the name to the color.
[00:53.11]But there is no connection.
[00:55.99]Orangutan Outreach's Richard Zimmerman
[00:59.18]explains where the name came from.
[01:01.63]"People in Malaysia and Indonesia would say
[01:04.22]orang hu tan and it's -- actually, it doesn't mean orange.
[01:10.49]Orang is the Malay or Indonesian word for man or human,
[01:17.56]and utan comes from hutan with an H, which means forest.
[01:24.48]So essentially, orangutan means person of the forest."
[01:29.67]One of our listeners asked how orangutans
[01:32.92]would react to seeing another orangutan using the iPad
[01:38.05]when they themselves are not using it.
[01:41.18]Mr. Zimmerman explains that the orangutans
[01:44.92]all want to use the tablet when they see it.
[01:48.33]This desire could come from wanting the same attention
[01:53.05]that the caretaker gives the ape using the device.
[01:56.74]Mr. Zimmerman told us what happens in a situation
[02:01.48]where the mother of a baby orangutan
[02:04.32]uses the iPad with an animal caretaker.
[02:08.10]The baby orangutan will see the iPad
[02:12.28]and will jump over wanting to become involved.
[02:16.27]In this case, he advises having two iPads
[02:20.64]and two caretakers to work with the mother and the baby.
[02:26.78]Another example comes from an animal sanctuary in Florida.
[02:31.96]"At the Center for Great Apes in Florida,
[02:34.35]when we do the enrichment sessions with Mari,
[02:38.09]a female orangutan, Pongo, with whom she lives,
[02:43.32]who is a big male, he gets jealous and wants the attention.
[02:46.70]So he comes running over and wants to use the iPad."
[02:50.10]Another listener asked us if orangutans react to seeing iPads
[02:54.88]being used by visitors to a zoo.
[02:58.02]Mr. Zimmerman says this behavior
[03:01.25]has not necessarily been documented.
[03:03.84]But he says orangutans are used
[03:07.37]to having their pictures taken with other devices.
[03:11.22]"The orangutans are used to people taking photos of them,
[03:15.45]so either pointing at them with a camera or a phone,
[03:18.63]so more of the smaller devices, rather than an iPad."
[03:22.03]Mr. Zimmerman adds that the orangutans do recognize the iPad,
[03:27.51]but to know what they are thinking is a bit more difficult.
[03:32.44]Any mind readers out there who can tell us
[03:34.88]what a great ape is thinking?
[03:37.02]Or has someone developed an app for that, too?