Zoo blocks smartphone-obsessed gorilla from visitors

A teenage gorilla is having his screen time cut after his caretakers noticed he was distracted by visitors’ smartphones – to the point it may hurt his development.

Amare, a 16-year-old male western lowland gorilla, lives with three other “bachelors” in an enclosure at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo.

The 415 pound (188 kilogram) male could often be found sitting in the corner of the enclosure closest to visitors, where he would watch in fascination at the pictures and videos they would show him through the glass on their smartphones.

However, zoo officials became concerned the screen time was too distracting after he failed to notice one of the other teenage gorillas charge at him in a display of aggression. Socializing is important for their development, but the visitors’ smartphones resulted in Amare coming increasingly disengaged with his “frat mates.”

“It wasn’t until that point that we had to do something to help Amare make better decisions about his screen time,” Stephen Ross, director of the zoo’s Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, told the Chicago Tribune.

Keepers have in stalled temporary barriers in front of the gorilla enclosure’s viewing window, creating a buffer zone between Amare and the temptation of human visitors’ smartphones. Ross said the change had already improved the atmosphere and Amare was back to interacting more with his peers.

“Amare is realising that it’s not really worth it for him to sit there in that corner, waiting for someone to come up and show him their phone,” said Ross.

The gorilla is familiar with screens from tests the zoo conducts on touchscreens.

However, Ross denied that Amare is not “addicted” to phones like humans are, but only showed interest because they were “shiny devices” held to his face.

“The best thing for gorillas and chimpanzees is to let them be apes!” Ross told Euronews Green.

“It is important that they spend time focusing on their relationships with their groupmates, so that they can form social bonds and learn from one another. While it may seem that the apes enjoy interactions with guests watching videos and seeing photos, it is best to minimise these distractions.”