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[Josh Greenman <joshg1973 AT yahoo.com>]

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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.