London monkeys reach for cell phones |
|
  At the London Zoo, they've made a new barrier-free enclosure for the spider monkeys, allowing zoo visitors to get in much closer to the happy little primates than ever before. However, they want the monkeys to be able to still partake in their natural habits and behaviours without being distracted. Well, it seems that the animals were drawn in to people who whipped out their cell phones to take pictures or videos, fascinated by the blinking lights and bleeping sounds, no doubt.
Of course, the staff couldn't lecture them on how recent studies are indicating that cell phones may lead to a greater chance of cancer, tumors, and whatnot, nor could they teach them that it's not very nice to take what is not yours, so they resorted to good old Pavlovian conditioning. They got their hands on some dummy, unwanted phones and covered them in "an unpleasant sticky substance" – I'd rather not know the exact details about that – and the monkeys quickly learned that cell phones aren't that desirable.
Then again, the monkeys haven't dabbled in DMB yet, so time will tell if this problem re-emerges when they catch King Kong on the small screen.
Via bbc.co.uk
|
 Reader Ratings |
|
| This article has been rated 55% by 2 user(s).
|
|
Recent Headlines
Video: Honda FC Sport Fuel Cell Car at LA Auto Show- posted on Thursday November 20, 2008 12:26 PM CST
BlackBerry Storm Reviews: Six Perspectives- posted on Thursday November 20, 2008 12:07 PM CST
New Smartphone Combo Plans from Bell Mobility- posted on Thursday November 20, 2008 11:48 AM CST
Fido and Rogers Set to Launch Dual-Sliding Samsung SGH-F406- posted on Thursday November 20, 2008 11:29 AM CST
The Paradox of the Android-Powered Sciphone Dream G2- posted on Thursday November 20, 2008 11:13 AM CST
What I Want from Nintendo DSi for North America- posted on Wednesday November 19, 2008 3:10 PM CST
New iPod Shuffle Gets Fashionable as Bangle- posted on Wednesday November 19, 2008 11:52 AM CST
Video: How Fast is Asus P565 Smartphone with 800MHz CPU?- posted on Wednesday November 19, 2008 11:43 AM CST
Multitouch Arrives on HP Touchsmart TX2 Convertible Laptop- posted on Wednesday November 19, 2008 11:29 AM CST
Microsoft Zune Gets Cheaper, Updated for the Holidays- posted on Wednesday November 19, 2008 11:19 AM CST
Noise-Canceling iPod Earphones Plug into Dock Connector- posted on Wednesday November 19, 2008 11:05 AM CST
Nintendo Wii Sits On Top of Buy.com's Holiday Gift Picks- posted on Tuesday November 18, 2008 3:35 PM CST
Will the Chevy Volt Get Canned Without a Govt Bailout?- posted on Tuesday November 18, 2008 3:25 PM CST
Video: Hands-On and Feature Walkthrough of Verizon BlackBerry Storm- posted on Tuesday November 18, 2008 2:14 PM CST
Windows Mobile-Powered IcePhone Triple Flips to Greatness- posted on Tuesday November 18, 2008 2:08 PM CST
Telus Getting iDEN BlackBerry for PTT After All?- posted on Tuesday November 18, 2008 1:55 PM CST
REVIEW: iLuv iSP100BLK Portable Speakers for iPod and iPhone- posted on Monday November 17, 2008 5:03 PM CST
First Look: Mid-Range Sony Ericsson Xperia Smartphone- posted on Monday November 17, 2008 12:39 PM CST
LTE-Equipped BlackBerry Coming from RIM?- posted on Monday November 17, 2008 12:08 PM CST
Cryptic Message Transmission with Japanese Morse Code Watch- posted on Monday November 17, 2008 11:53 AM CST
Rogers Confirms Pending Release of Nokia E71- posted on Monday November 17, 2008 11:26 AM CST
The World's Fastest Smartphone Unveiled by Asus- posted on Monday November 17, 2008 11:15 AM CST
Feature: Broadening the BlackBerry Brand- posted on Friday November 14, 2008 2:59 PM CST
Interested in a BlackBerry Pearl Flip for Under 25 Bucks?- posted on Friday November 14, 2008 12:37 PM CST
Dell Vostro A860 Business Notebook Features 16:9 Screen, Low Price- posted on Friday November 14, 2008 12:28 PM CST
|
|
|
|
XML Feed