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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GREAT APE CRISIS SYMPOSIUM SLATED FOR DES MOINES
International conference on plight of great apes to be co-hosted this month by Great Ape Trust of Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa, November 10, 2004 --/WORLD-WIRE/-- Less than a century ago, the world's great apes numbered in the millions, thriving on savannahs and rain forests throughout central Africa and Southeast Asia. Today, one by one, species by species, the great apes are rapidly disappearing - most of them the victims of deforestation and poaching.

Some are captured or killed for an illegal international pet trade while others are slaughtered for their bushmeat. All the great apes - bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans - share one disturbing distinction; they face extinction - some by the end of this decade.

"It's conceivable that in five or six years, one species of orangutans could disappear from the face of the earth," says Dr. Robert Shumaker, director of the orangutan research program at Great Ape Trust of Iowa. "It is beyond tragic and must be addressed more urgently by more people."

To generate greater public awareness about the dilemma, Great Ape Trust, a scientific research center in Des Moines that studies great ape behavior and intelligence, is co-hosting The Great Ape Crisis Symposium with the Balikpapan Orangutan Society (BOS) - USA, the Borneo Orangutan Society (BOS) - Indonesia and Drake University of Des Moines.

The Great Ape Crisis Symposium is scheduled for Saturday, November 20 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Olmsted Center at Drake University in Des Moines.

The event is free and open to the public. Those interested in attending may register on-line at www.GreatApeTrust.org or by calling Great Ape Trust at 515.243.3580.

Speakers scheduled for The Great Ape Crisis Symposium include:
  • Dr. Mark Leighton, Harvard University
    "Orangutans as World Heritage Species"

  • Dr. Benjamin Beck, Great Ape Trust
    "Reintroduction of African Apes"

  • Dr. Robert Shumaker, Great Ape Trust, BOS-USA and BOS-Indonesia
    "Great Apes in Entertainment and the Pet Trade"

  • Dr. Duane Rumbaugh, Great Ape Trust
    "Lessons by the "Forest People" Taught in My Office, Laboratory and Life"

  • Dr. Anne Russon, Glendon College of York University, BOS-USA and BOS-Indonesia
    "The Social Life of the Solitary Ape: Culture and Cognition in Orangutan Conservation"

  • Dr. Roberto Delgado, Hunter College: City University of New York
    "Using Field Research to Conserve Orangutans"
In addition to The Great Ape Crisis Symposium, a dinner, silent auction and presentation about the status of the endangered orangutan will be held Saturday, November 20, 7:00 p.m. at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines. The event is open to the public and tickets are $50 each with proceeds benefiting orangutan conservation projects.

Keynote speaker is Dr. Sri Suci Utami Atmoko, co-chairperson of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation and a faculty member at Universitas Nasional in Jakarta, Indonesia. Those interested in reserving tickets should contact Great Ape Trust at www.GreatApeTrust.org.

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.

CONTACT:
Al Setka
Director of Communications
Great Ape Trust of Iowa
515.243.3580
515.720.7430 (mobile)
asetka@greatapetrust.org

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