- Local
- Community
- Journalism
Support the independent voice of Miami and help keep the future of New Times free.
Oh, sure, the story of orangutans at Miami's famed Jungle Island learning to use iPads may seem cute to you. "Ah, the monkeys think they're peoples!" But be wary, folks. We're pretty sure this is exactly how one of the Planet of the Apes movies started out. First the apes learned how to master Angry Birds. Then they learned to master the world. They don't think they're people. They think they're the better than us, and there's nothing cute about it.
The software was originally designed for humans with autism and the screen displays pictures of various objects. A trainer then names one of the objects, and the ape presses the corresponding button.
Linda Jacobs, the head of the mental stimulus program at the zoo, says Orangutans are actually quite intelligent, but their communication with (and hence eventual domination over) humans is limited because they can't speak.
"They are sort of trapped in those bodies," she tells the AP. "They have the intelligence that they need to communicate, but they don't have the right equipment, because they don't have voice boxes or vocal cords. So this gives them a way to let us know what they know, what they are capable of, what they would like to have."
- @Swagrangutan1: Hot chick just broke up with her boyf in front of my habitat. Think I can get her digits? Once you go orange, you never go ...damn.
- @Swagrangutan1: Thought I saw my long lost brother today. Turns out it was just a fat ginger who apparently doesn't own a razor.
- @Swagrangutan1: How many people are going to walk through this zoo today wearing crocs? And they think we're the animals.
Keep Miami New Times Free... Since we started Miami New Times, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Miami, and we would like to keep it that way. Offering our readers free access to incisive coverage of local news, food and culture. Producing stories on everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with gutsy reporting, stylish writing, and staffers who've won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award to the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with local journalism's existence under siege and advertising revenue setbacks having a larger impact, it is important now more than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" membership program, allowing us to keep covering Miami with no paywalls.
