Even Orangutans Play Video Games

Ever wondered why that KSer or griefer acted like a monkey?

Well, in Atlanta, USA, Orangutans in a zoo are playing video games - all in the name of science.

Bernas and his mother, Madu, 2 Sumatran Orangutans in the Atlanta Zoo are playing video games on a touch screen monitor while scientists study the cognitive skills of the orange and brown primates.

The orangutans use a touch screen built into a tree-like structure that blend in with their zoo habitat. Visitors watch from a video monitor in front of the exhibit.

''The more we understand about orangutan's cognitive processes, the more we'll understand about what they need to survive in the wild,'' said Tara Stoinski, manager of conservation partnerships for the zoo. ''It enables us to show the public how smart they are.''

In one game, orangutans choose identical photographs or match orangutan sounds with photos of the animals - correct answers are rewarded with food pellets. Another game lets them draw pictures by moving their hands and other body parts around the screen. Printouts of their masterpieces are on display in the zoo.

The computer games, which volunteers from IBM spent nearly 500 hours developing, test the animals' memory, reasoning and learning, spitting out sheets of data for researchers at the zoo and Atlanta's Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, a partner in the project.

The data will help researchers learn about socializing patterns, such as whether they mimic others or learn behavior from scratch through trial and error, said Elliott Albers with the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience.

Researchers hope the data can point to new conservation strategies to help the 37,000 orangutans living in the wild on the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra