CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A snow monkey at Lincoln Park Zoo had the opportunity to name her infant son using a bit of technology.
The mother, Mito, is a 15-year-old Japanese macaque who gave birth to her son on Aug. 3. She used a touchscreen computer to name her son Minato, which means port in Japanese and is also name of an area of Tokyo.
The pair have fully acclimated to the troop of 13 snow monkeys at the zoo’s Regenstein Macaque Forest.
Mito’s using a touchscreen to name Minato is an example of the voluntary primate cognition research that zoologists use to understand how primates experience the world. Based on the results, scientists with the Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes can better understand macaques’ ability to sequence and memorize symbols as well as their individual food preferences, enhancing the zoo’s ability to ensure high-level care and welfare for these primates.
Since Mito was familiar with the touchscreen, she was provided two name options upon voluntarily entering the state-of-the-art cognition cube at the macaque habitat.
The names for all of the snow monkey offspring at the zoo are inspired by Japanese cities and towns, paying homage to macaques’ native habitat, and begin with the same first letter as their mother to demonstrate the prominent matrilines in this species, a press release stated. Miyoshi was Mito’s other name choice.
“Lincoln Park Zoo is dedicated to providing choice and control to the species in its care whenever possible, which is exemplified in the zoo’s voluntary primate cognitive research program,” said Steve Ross, director of the Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes. “In the spirit of providing choice, we gave snow monkey Mito the opportunity to choose her infant’s name, selecting between two options.”
Lincoln Park Zoo has welcomed seven infants to the troop since Regenstein Macaque Forest opened in 2015.
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