"Visitors get to watch the antics, and zoo officials hope that opening up the research will raise awareness of the world's rapidly diminishing orangutan population."
Hey, I've got an idea. How about if you want to raise awareness about the world's diminishing orangutan population, you make an educational program about threats to the wild population?
The notion that orangutans playing computer games has anything to do with natural behavior or conservation is utterly preposterous. Conservation education needs to be grounded in conservation topics. The spectacle of an ape playing with a computer does nothing to communicate urgency, let alone the details of the plight of wild orangutans. Quite the opposite.
The zoo's decision to spend money on tree-mounted computers communicates that when it comes right down to it and the zoo gets to choose priorities, exhibition is more important than in situ conservation.
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