As Great Ape Trust recovers from flooding, member tours have been canceled for 2008. Above, floodwaters encroach on the bonobo home. Great Ape Trust photo

Des Moines, Iowa – June 18, 2008 – Member tours have been suspended for 2008 as Great Ape Trust of Iowa begins the massive cleanup effort after floodwaters covered the entire 230-acre campus at the peak of record flooding in the Des Moines River basin.

Great Ape Trust's orangutan home was flooded when the Des Moines River left its banks last week. Great Ape Trust photo

Life is returning to normal for Great Ape Trust’s resident orangutans and bonobos, who have remained safe and dry throughout the ordeal. However, The Trust has sustained significant damage to its infrastructure, including an access road that remains under water, and the southeast Des Moines campus won’t be ready for guests for weeks or months. Four modular administrative offices are considered a complete loss.

Members who had signed up for the now-canceled tours will be given priority in the 2009 tour season if their memberships are current, said Al Setka, director of communications.

Refunds will not be made, as a membership did not guarantee a tour, given the limited availability of tour spots. More membership information is available at https://members.greatapetrust.org/.

“Right now, support from our current members and new members is more important than ever before,” Setka said.  “We appreciate their patience and understanding.”

Great Ape Trust evacuated its administrative offices on June 10 after a weak spot in an agricultural levee spilled floodwaters over Southeast 45th Street, which borders The Trust’s property on the east, and quickly flooded the campus. When Saylorville Reservoir, located several miles upstream, began releasing water from the emergency spillway on June 11, Great Ape Trust’s flooding worsened.

At the crest of the flood, all of the 230-acre campus was under water. Ape homes are now dry, though much of the campus remains flooded.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

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).