Nomad’s app for Taronga Zoo launched on Saturday

Taronga is pioneering conservation innovation, launching an interactive iPhone app designed to enrich families’ zoo visits.

The Monkey Mayhem game was created to take children on a journey to discover and connect with wildlife. They must help Marley, the Zookeeper’s son, restore the Zoo Manual which escaped monkeys have torn to shreds. Children add their own animal photos, unlocking hidden videos, animal noises and Keepers’ notes. Children can then personalise their manual and share it with friends.

The app has been developed by mobile marketing agency, Nomad, specifically for Taronga, after exhaustive on-site testing, focus groups, concept development, prototype trialling and even consultation with Macquarie University cognitive scientists to ensure optimal educational content.

Nomad Business Director, David McGowan said: “Focus groups showed us iPhone owners are surprisingly willing to hand over their mobile phones to their children to access educational games, because they’re easy to use and child-robust. Smartphone play can also act as a micro-babysitting session, giving parents a break while producing an enriching educational experience.”

Taronga’s General Manager for Marketing, Paul Davies, said “the app will engage young visitors with the wildlife at the zoo, and hopefully with the reality that many species will face extinction without the help of the leaders of tomorrow. Kids have an incredibly intuitive understanding of smartphone technology and research we conducted with Nomad showed they particularly responded to elements of gaming, challenges and discovery.”

Monkey Mayhem hides a powerful combination of technologies behind its kid-friendly interface. The iPhone’s built-in GPS, camera, image library and digital compass are all utilised in game play, as is Google mapping technology, which has been married with an illustrated map of the Zoo. The app is made for 5-12 year-olds, but also suitable for younger children with a little assistance and great fun for adults too.

Get the free app in the App Store now.