Puppe and Budi prod the iPad with their knuckles and fingertips, multi-tasking by slipping the occasional snack into their mouths.

They could easily be children, enjoying an onscreen game and a snack on a summer day.

But the mother and son are apes — two of six Sumatran orangutans at the Toronto Zoo who have been introduced to iPads in recent months.

They use them to play memory and painting games, even to Skype with other orangutans. But watching videos is their favourite.

“They really like watching the videos of natural things, so maybe that’s why they’re so transfixed on it,” said the zoo’s main orangutan keeper, Matthew Berridge.

Toronto is the only Canadian zoo to participate in the U.S.-created Apps for Apes program, an effort to provide extra enrichment opportunities for orangutans in captivity.

The red apes look entertained, as one hangs down from the top of the cage, piggybacking on the other.

Puppe and Budi are close enough to touch, if not for the barrier that separates animal from human.

Before playing with the iPad, one had strutted over to the glass surrounding the Sumatran Orangutan Exhibit, pressed against the glass and looked cameras and curious children straight in the eyes.

In captivity, it’s the humans that call the shots. It’s something Berridge would like to change.

“We make all their choices for them, and for an intelligent animal they should have some more opportunities to make choices themselves,” Berridge said — from deciding on the type of food they want that day to what activities they’d like to do.

He hopes that teaching the orangutans how to make their own choices on the iPad will help them learn how to do so more generally in captivity.

Orangutans are among the smartest of all primates — their intelligence is comparable to that of 3 ½-year-old old human. They are also careful problem-solvers.

In March, an anonymous benefactor kicked off the program here by donating iPads to the Toronto Zoo. Twelve other zoos around the world are also participating.

Although the orangutans can interact with the iPad in ways similar to a child, some anatomical differences meant the project got off to a slow start.

“They were touching (the iPad) correctly, but nothing was happening on the screen,” Berridge said.

Orangutans have fingernails that curl over the tips of their fingers, preventing the touch-screen from responding properly. They were taught how to touch the device with their knuckles and fingertips, but also to use their toes, lips or tongue against the screen, which is protected with a clear covering.

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“When they do something right, they get a food reward. They learn to repeat that behaviour,” Berridge said.

Orangutans are one of the most endangered species of apes. As a result of palm oil production, their habitats are increasingly at risk.

This weekend the zoo is holding its annual Orangutan Awareness Weekend to raise money for conservation projects.