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The bonobo Kanzi displays art he created for the Apes Helping Apes exhibit at Zanzibar’s Coffee Adventure. Kanzi’s and other apes’ paintings have sold out, though the exhibit will remain up through Nov. 25. Great Ape Trust photo by Liz Rubert-Pugh. |
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Within a week, the 16 paintings in Zanzibar’s Coffee Adventure
Exhibit raised nearly $10,000 to support ape conservation in the wild
Des Moines, Iowa – October 30, 2007 – Art created by Great Ape Trust of Iowa’s resident orangutans and bonobos for an exhibit at a Des Moines coffeehouse has sold out, raising nearly $10,000 for great ape conservation efforts in the range countries where the endangered species remain in the wild.
The Apes Helping Apes exhibit remains on display at Zanzibar’s Coffee Adventure, 2723 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines, through Nov. 25. The project is part of an ongoing commitment by Great Ape Trust to assist grassroots organizations supporting conservation initiatives for the four types of great ape – bonobos, chimpanzees and gorillas in Africa, and orangutans in Asia. All are on the brink of extinction. According to estimates compiled by Great Ape Trust, wild populations have declined 80 percent to 90 percent since 1900. Some subspecies, such as mountain gorillas, number only in the hundreds.
Zanzibar’s owner Julie McGuire has been displaying the work of local artists since the coffeehouse opened in 1993. The work by orangutans Azy, Knobi and Allie and bonobos Kanzi, Panbanisha and Nathan has been a sensation with her regular customers and some new ones drawn to Zanzibar’s by the unique art exhibit. “We’ve had a couple of exhibits that have virtually sold out,” McGuire said, “but nothing at this speed. It’s very rare for a show to sell out completely.”
She said the Apes Helping Apes exhibit has helped her customers better understand the scientific mission of Great Ape Trust and the inquiry into the origins and future of culture, language, tools and intelligence. “It does lead to conversations about how similar apes are to us,” McGuire said. “After learning about the art, they may be more willing to make that leap.”
Her conversations with customers about Great Ape Trust have been “very, very favorable,” McGuire said. “Several people have mentioned how much they favor the work at Great Ape Trust and the wonderful opportunities it presents.”
Still other customers have said they would like to see Apes Helping Apes return to Zanzibar’s as an annual fund-raiser for ape conservation in the wild.
In the first two days of the exhibit’s opening on Oct. 22, 13 of the 16 paintings had been sold. By week’s end, Great Ape Trust had raised more than it expected from sales because one buyer offered $6,000 for four paintings – two by Panbanisha, one by Kanzi and one by Azy and Knobi – double the asking price.
That generosity suggests there’s not only an interest in the art the apes create, but also in the conservation of the habitat apes in the wild depend upon for survival, according to Great Ape Trust Director of Conservation Dr. Benjamin Beck. The money raised will go a long way in range countries where great apes remain, he said. For example:
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$3 buys an energy-efficient stove for a family in Rwanda, where critically endangered mountain gorillas and endangered chimpanzees are found in the wild. This reduces the demand on wood from the rain forest and the time to collect it, thus improving villagers’ quality of life. |
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$100 buys a sweater and rain gear for a ranger in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National park, where a cadre of rangers works around the clock to protect one of the few remaining populations of mountain gorilla, or 500 seedlings of native forest trees for forest restoration programs. |
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$150 provides transportation, a snack and teacher time for a visit of 30 school students to a nature center in an ape range country; pays the monthly salary for a nature center teacher; or provides boots, rain gear, field clothing and a back pack for a field assistant. |
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$300 is the monthly salary and food budget for a field assistant or community game guard for a variety of ape field projects. |
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$5,000 pays one month’s salary for “ape mothers,” animal care staff, maintenance staff and administrative staff of an ape sanctuary. |
The apes creating the paintings for “Apes Helping Apes” did so voluntarily and as part of ongoing enrichment activities at Great Ape Trust, where scientific research seeks to understand the origins and future of culture, language, tool use and intelligence. The work at The Trust builds on a growing body of research that has found the four types of great ape – bonobos, orangutans, chimpanzees and gorillas – are thinking, self-aware and intelligent beings.
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The orangutan Allie uses her lips to move a sponge around the canvas as she creates art for the Apes Helping Apes exhibit, which raised nearly $10,000 for conservation in range countries where great apes remain in the wild. |
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Enrichment activities are important at Great Ape Trust so individual apes can be given a wide variety of choices each day and have as much control over their lives as is reasonably possible in a captive setting, said Dr. Rob Shumaker, The Trust’s director of orangutan research. Enrichment for orangutans and bonobos is not considered a separate activity at Great Ape Trust, he said, but rather a philosophy of daily management and research.
“All apes are cognitively complex, and all deserve an enriching environment provided by a variety of tasks that are interesting and enjoyable,” Shumaker said. “Some are structured, such as experimental tasks, and some are unstructured, such as the opportunity to paint. Painting allows them to express their creativity, intelligence and natural curiosity.”
Apes Helping Apes is modeled after a similar program at the Houston Zoo called Pongos Helping Pongos, which has raised thousands of dollars for in-situ conservation. Peter Clay, a senior orangutan caretaker, heard about the idea at a recent ZACC (Zoos and Aquariums Committing to Conservation) conference. Ape caretakers at Great Ape Trust are encouraged to develop conservation initiatives, and Clay thought it could be duplicated in Des Moines.
Response has been so overwhelming that the orangutans are creating more paintings and some new ones may be hung before the exhibit closes on Nov. 25.
Great Ape Trust Background
Great Ape Trust of Iowa is a scientific research facility in southeast Des Moines dedicated to understanding the origins and future of culture, language, tools and intelligence. When completed, Great Ape Trust 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 noninvasive interdisciplinary studies 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. Great Ape Trust of Iowa is a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit organization and is certified by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). |
Great Ape Trust is certified by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums
