Lemurs and Langurs watch life-like 4K TV as part of their reintroduction to the wild

BRAVIA’s realistic picture quality gives animals a look at their new habitat as part of their ’Back to the Wild’ programme

• Internationally renowned animal conservation charity, The Aspinall Foundation, has installed Sony BRAVIA 4K TVs into primate enclosures to show detailed and life-like footage to animals who will be introduced to protected areas of their natural habitat from 2016 onwards
• The trial is part of an ongoing multi step programme to prepare the lemurs and langurs for their possible journey ahead. The TVs will give the primates experience in dealing with new situations and objects

This week, Port Lympne Reserve in Kent, UK, has installed state-of-the-art Sony BRAVIA X90C 4K Ultra HD televisions into its lemur and langur enclosures. The trial is part of the animal conservation charity’s world renowned ‘Back to the Wild’ programme, and allowed primates to watch footage of their natural habitats in Java and Madagascar in detailed life-like 4K quality, to possibly help them familiarise themselves with their potential new homes.

Simon Jeffery, Animal Manager at Port Lympne Reserve, commented: “At Port Lympne, we’re always looking for new ways to engage and stimulate our animals. We use all sorts of different techniques to do this to keep our animals as interested and healthy as possible. Sometimes the enrichment can involve scents or tastes or even new climbing features or toys but this time we wanted to try something a little different to see if they would be interested in their natural habitats in the wild.

“While our large enclosures are designed to resemble the animals’ natural habitat as closely as possible, we decided to give our langurs and lemurs an actual peek of areas in the wild that could, potentially, become their new homes. Sony BRAVIA 4K TV picture quality is so clear and detailed that it’s as close to seeing the rainforest with your own eyes.”

The new BRAVIA X90C series brings stunning 4K picture quality to whatever image is on the screen, its four times the detail of HD. Thanks to the powerful 4K Processor X1 the clarity and contrast of every scene is now even more lifelike. As for the colour of the picture, it’s Sony’s unique TRILUMINOS Display technology that lets us enjoy the widest colour range ever, making the lush green rainforests look incredibly rich and vivid.

Simon added: “Since 2012, we have successfully reintroduced several groups of langurs, gibbons and grizzled leaf monkeys from Port Lympne Reserve and our sister park, Howletts Wild Animal Park, to protected forests in Java. We plan to send this particular group of langurs in 2016.

“Although we have been working closely with local communities in Madagascar for some time, we haven’t yet introduced captive born lemurs from the parks to this unique island. Our surveys and ground work have been very successful and we’re really excited to start exploring the possibility of sending captive born lemurs back to the wild, where they belong.”

As part of The Aspinall Foundation, Port Lympne Reserve is devoted to protecting rare and endangered animals and returning them to protected areas in the wild, wherever possible. Port Lympne is extensively involved in exchange and breeding programmes throughout the world and have had many breeding successes.

Other parts of the reintroduction programme include ensuring appropriate infrastructure is in place, teams in the field are equipped to fully monitor pre and post release, appropriate enclosures are built so that the animals can acclimatise and settle in to their new homes and their diets are gradually changed. Expert vets and keepers are also involved throughout the process to ensure a smooth transition.