--- title: "Zookeepers Say Teen Gorilla Is Addicted to Cell Phones" description: "In totally relatable news: Amare, a 415-pound teenage gorilla at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, is totally obsessed with smartphone screens." date: "2022-04-12" modified: "2022-04-12" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/teen-gorilla-addicted-cell-phones" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "gorillas" - "the digest" - "zoo" --- # Zookeepers Say Teen Gorilla Is Addicted to Cell Phones ![In totally relatable news: Amare, a 415-pound teenage gorilla at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, is totally obsessed with smartphone screens.]() *\Image: Joseph DeSantis/Getty Images\* ## Strange Addiction In totally relatable news: Amare, a 415-pound teenage gorilla at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, is totally obsessed with smartphone screens, [the *Chicago Sun Times* reports](). The 16-year-old, who lives with three other male gorillas "bachelor" style, has had countless visitors come up to the glass enclosure to show him pictures and videos on their smartphones — and he's reportedly hooked, to the point that the zoo put up a rope to keep visitors away from the glass. "It seemed to almost surprise Amare because his attention was very much distracted," Stephen Ross, director of the zoo’s Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, told the *Sun Times*. ## Screen Time It's very much like Ross's own battles with his teenagers. "As parents, we think about we want to give our children choices, we want them to grow into adults, but every once in a while we have to sort of guide those choices for their good," he told the publication. "And rather than maybe allowing them to sit inside and watch TV all day, maybe encourage them to go outside and interact with their friends." "That’s something that I think all responsible parents think of and, in many ways, it’s similar to what we’re doing here," he added. ## Cold Turkey Ross also mentioned that Amare's screen time may be the reason why he has been paying less attention to his other three roommates. "More and more of his time he’s spending over there sort of looking to engage with these screens, and we have started to see behavioral changes," the researcher said. Hopefully, the rope separating visitors will allow Amare to quit his new habit, a depressing consequence of holding wild animals in captivity. "If we can all sort of agree that we want to do what’s best for the animals, then we can sort of resist that desire to sit there and flip through pictures for an hour with him," Ross told the *Sun Times*. **READ MORE:** [Teenage gorilla is getting too much screen time, Lincoln Park Zoo officials say]() \[*Chicago Sun Times*\] **More on gorillas:** *[Eight Gorillas in Zoo Catch Coronavirus]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()