Sunday, February 17, 2013

Meet the Bonobos!


Today, my friend Lisa and I took the most awesome tour.  The Iowa Primate Learning Sanctuary (formerly the Great Ape Trust) has opened up tours to the public.  We had no idea what was behind the gated community in the Easter Lake area of Des Moines that housed these primates, until today.  Did you know there are under 100 of these amazing animals, who are more related genetically to humans, in captivity in the world? You register for tours here. They ask for a $20 donation for adults and $14 donation for kids under 12.  The tour is advertised for 1 1/2 hours, but the staff is so passionate and excited to share their knowledge of the Bonobos, that the tour lasted a little over 2 hours.  I wouldn't recommend it for young children, but older children would love this.


Teco-Photo from Iowa Primate
Sanctuary Facebook Page
You walk in and the Bonobos are behind glass, but able to interact with you by asking for kisses, asking for tickles and showing off for you.  It's amazing to watch them use their computerized keyboard system to communicate with humans.  Kanzi and Nyota were with us for the entire tour, while Teco, the three year old Bonobo was able to come visit with us minus the glass, while we wore masks of course so we didn't spread any germs.  We watched in awe as Dr. Savage- Rumbaugh sat in with the Bonobos as a family member, feeding them peanuts that Lisa had brought.  They amazed us with how smart they were and saw the genuine love the staff have for these Bonobos.  They are in desperate need for volunteers, financial support and supplies right now so they have opened up the Sanctuary to more tours in hopes of raising the money.  They are also working on partnerships with schools and the Science Center in hopes of making better connections with and sharing the wonderful Apes with the community.  Book a tour to find out some of the amazing things we learned about these creatures and what they are doing at the Sanctuary.  It was pretty amazing!  They don't allow pictures during the tour, but the experience is awesome.

 Tip: They love peanuts. Bring some for the Bonobos and they will LOVE you!
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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 1, 2013 at 12:45 PM

    Thank you for backing off on asking people to bring M&Ms.

    It's best to remember that even though they're letting Teco interact with the group, he is getting a bit big and strong for that.

    They don't even have enough money to keep the place going. Anyone want to place any bets on whether they have liability insurance in case Teco accidentally hurts someone? Are you signing waivers to the effect that if he bites off your finger, you won't sue?

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMarch 1, 2013 at 12:54 PM

    Here, from Iowa Primate Learning Sanctuary/Great Ape Trust/Bonobo Hope's own web site, is this, explaining why this practice of letting the bonobo – 6x stronger than a human – is this:

    http://www.iowaprimatelearning.org/media/news_releases/?tragedy_in_connecticut_makes_case_against_apes_as_pets_or_surrogate_children&show=news&newsID=13377

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMarch 1, 2013 at 1:02 PM

    Make no mistake, Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh regards Teco as her child. She lives with them, and according to a report on KCCI-TV when the Bonobo 12 publicly questioned their wellbeing, admitted to bathing with them.

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  4. AnonymousMarch 1, 2013 at 1:19 PM

    This also is very instructive:
    ttp://chimptrainersdaughter.blogspot.com/p/the-latest-crisis-in-ongoing30-year.html

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