Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

monkeywire - [monkeywire] Countdown to Great Apes

monkeywire AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: The #1 source for news about monkeys and apes

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Josh Greenman <joshg1973 AT yahoo.com>
  • To: Monkeywire <monkeywire AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [monkeywire] Countdown to Great Apes
  • Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2004 12:21:53 -0700 (PDT)

http://www.enn.com/direct/display-release.asp?objid=D1D1366D000000FEDA111D17DDFA5C11

Countdown to Great Apes

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

September 28 will mark historic first arrivals at Great Ape Trust of Iowa

Des Moines, Iowa, September 2, 2004--By the end of this month, the first
residents of
Great Ape Trust of Iowa will arrive at their new home in Des Moines.
Organizers of Great
Ape Trust announced today that Azy and Indah, two orangutans, will be
transferred to the
world-class research center on September 28, from the Smithsonian's National
Zoological
Park in Washington, DC. Brother and sister, the two are believed to be the
first
orangutans to live in Iowa.

"We are quickly approaching a monumental day for Azy, Indah and everyone
associated with
Great Ape Trust," says Dr. Rob Shumaker, director of the Great Ape Trust
orangutan
research program. "None of this would be possible without the generosity and
cooperation
from the National Zoo - for that we are most grateful."

Azy, 26, and Indah, 24, were born in captivity and have spent most of their
lives at the
National Zoo, where they've been part of Shumaker's research program, the
Orangutan
Language Project, since 1995. The two will undergo the required pre-shipment
physicals in
early September before being transferred to Iowa by a chartered air carrier
on the 28th.

"Azy and Indah will be the first of many great apes to call Iowa home," says
Ted
Townsend, founder of Great Ape Trust. "This is just the beginning of a
fabulous
scientific journey that will explore the intelligence, communication and
social
interactions of our closet living relatives."

While the staff of Great Ape Trust prepare for the arrival of orangutans,
construction
progresses on the bonobo facility - that building is expected to be completed
in early
2005. A family of bonobos will be transferred to Great Ape Trust from Georgia
State
University's Language Research Center near Atlanta. Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh,
whose work
with Kanzi has been documented internationally, will direct the bonobo
research program
at Great Ape Trust.

Great Ape Trust began as the Iowa Primate Learning Sanctuary in early 2002.
In June of
2003, work crews began developing the former sand and gravel quarry near the
Des Moines
River. Located about five miles southeast of downtown Des Moines on more than
200 acres
of lowlands, river forest and lakes, Great Ape Trust of Iowa will be the
largest great
ape facility in North America and one of the first worldwide to include all
four types of
great ape: bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans for the study of
their cognitive
and communicative capabilities.

Great Ape Trust is dedicated to providing sanctuary and an honorable life for
great apes,
studying the intelligence of great apes, advancing conservation of great apes
and
providing unique educational experiences about great apes. To learn more
about Great Ape
Trust of Iowa, go to www.GreatApeTrust.org.




  • [monkeywire] Countdown to Great Apes, Josh Greenman, 09/07/2004

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page