Vervet monkeys in the Manawa Game Reserve in northern KwaZulu Natal are the first wild primates to learn to use a touchscreen.

A scientific team led by Erica van de Waal, who leads the iNkawu Vervet Project at Mawana, built a 15kg box containing a touchscreen, a battery and corn kernels, tied it to a tree and activated a web hotspot, according to Business Insider.

The team then retreated at least five metres to control the screen and monitor the monkeys, which were visually identified from various distinguishing physical features. 

When the small primates touched a blue square – first in a static position, then as it moved around the screen – they earned a few kernels of corn dispensed through a chute. 

The breakthrough means scientists expect to be able to study intelligence in non-human primates without having to keep them in captivity.

The researchers, however, warned that using touchscreens to research monkeys who live in proximity to humans could be risky.

“[There is a] risk of habituation to the touchscreen spilling over into increased attempts to interact with screens in other contexts,” scientists highlighted in the Journal of Animal Ecology.

Click here to watch the video on Twitter.