Gorillas get iPads to aid alertness and keep them happier in zoos

Gorillas prods the new toy which scientists hope will transform the way primates are kept alert and happy in zoos - an iPad.

Animal behaviour experts handed out the gadgets to five apes in an experiment. The super-smart gorillas quickly learned to turn the screens on and off and seem fascinated by the colours and pictures.



Amazingly not a single one of the five tablets which download apps has been broken since being given out at Port Lympne wild animal park three weeks ago.

Head keeper Phil Ridges said yesterday: "We thought they would bang them on rocks but they carry them round as if they were babies." Boffins at the University of Kent, Canterbury, are behind the trial, which is being monitored by Apple.