To compensate for the lack of interaction with visitors since the attractions closed in December under Covid-19 restrictions, the chimpanzees at Safari Park Dvur Kralove and the troop at a zoo in Brno, 93 km away, can continue each other’s daily lives. watch giant screens.
There are no disasters with a mute button because the sound is off, but there has been a lot of interest in what the distant cousins have been up to since the project was underway last week.
“In the beginning, they approached the screen with defensive or threatening gestures, there was interaction,” said Gabriela Linhartova, monkey keeper at Dvur Kralove, 144 km east of Prague.
A chimpanzee rests in front of a giant screen inside its enclosure at Safari Park Dvur Kralove.
DAVID W CERNY / REUTERS
“Meanwhile, it’s in ‘I’m in the movies’ or ‘I’m watching TV’ mode. If they see some tense situations, it gets them off the couch, like we do when we watch a live sporting event.”
The chimpanzees also adopted other human behaviors, such as grabbing things like nuts to chew on while watching the action.
The video conferences, which are also broadcast on the Safari Park website, will be hosted daily from 08:00 to 16:00 until the end of March, when the guards will evaluate whether they should continue.