Orangutan Entertainment Star Moves to Des Moines

DES MOINES, Iowa, July 18, 2008 (ENS) - One of the most visible orangutans in entertainment has left the glitter of Los Angeles for the relative seclusion of a nonprofit research institute in southeast Des Moines.

Three-year-old Rocky was featured in a photo spread with recording artist Fergie of The Black Eyed Peas in the July 2007 Music Edition of the magazine "Elle."

When a female actor kisses a frog in a Capital One credit card commercial, Rocky appears wearing a tiara and, through technological wizardry, appears to be delivering important information about the card's cash rewards program.

Rocky also played an insurance adjuster in an Aflac commercial.

All that changes with Rocky's move to Great Ape Trust this week. The privately funded nonprofit institute conducts non-invasive scientific research into ape intelligence and behavior.

Rocky at his new home in Iowa (Photo courtesy Great Ape Trust of Iowa)

Rocky and his mother, Katy, a 19-year-old orangutan, arrived at Great Ape Trust on July 12. They are part of a group of orangutans who will move to Des Moines from the Los Angeles area.

Steve Martin of Steve Martin's Working Wildlife in Los Angeles is discontinuing the use of orangutans in entertainment and transferring six of the great apes to Des Moines by early 2009.

At Great Ape Trust, the former entertainment orangutans will have a new three-story home, an expansive structure designed to simulate orangutans' wild environments.

A new three acre outdoor forest yard offers the apes dozens of the type of climbable trees where wild orangutans spend most of their time.

The move to Great Ape Trust will expose Rocky to novel opportunities, such as using computers, learning symbols and participating in ongoing scientific research.

"One of my strongest interests as a scientist is understanding orangutans' mental abilities over the course of their lifetimes, and having the ability to now begin with a very young individual who's obviously very bright is a remarkable opportunity for Great Ape Trust and for Rocky," said Dr. Robert Shumaker, director of orangutan research at Great Ape Trust.

Shumaker and his colleagues are looking forward to the end of a month-long acclimation period when the young ape can be introduced to current residents Azy, Knobi and Allie. Shumaker began collaborating with Azy, now 30, when the orangutan was about six years old..

"Unquestionably, this is a big transition for Rocky and all of the apes coming here," Shumaker said. "It's going to be a big change. It's also a big transition for the apes that live here. This is as much about Azy, Knobi and Allie as it is about Rocky or Katy or any of the others."

Shumaker and his colleagues expect the introduction of the new orangutans to the current population to dramatically change the social environment for all individuals because they come from different backgrounds.

"Azy, Knobi and Allie all grew up in a zoo setting, and now we have others who are coming from a very different background," he said. "We know the orangutans will learn from each other."

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 ability to think and communicate.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2008. All rights reserved.