Latest Apes Stories
BOSTON, Feb. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Bioethics of Great Ape Well-Being: Psychiatric Injury and Duty of Care, recently published in the Animals & Society Institute's (ASI) Public Policy series, asserts that historically and to date the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and research facilities have failed in their legal duty to protect captive great apes by not preventing foreseeable trauma of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress...
Dominant males invest in friendly relationships with females Mate competition by males over females is common in many animal species. During mating season male testosterone levels rise, resulting in an increase in aggressive behavior and masculine features. Male bonobos, however, invest much more into friendly relationships with females. Elevated testosterone and aggression levels would collide with this increased tendency towards forming pair-relationships. Bonobos are among the...
Why are the faces of primates so dramatically different from one another? UCLA biologists working as "evolutionary detectives" studied the faces of 129 adult male primates from Central and South America, and they offer some answers in research published today, Jan. 11, in the early online edition of the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The faces they studied evolved over at least 24 million years, they report. "If you look at New World primates, you're immediately struck by...
Chimpanzees might be able to determine whether or not their fellow chimps need to hear a specific message, according to a new study published in the journal Current Biology. According to Guardian Science Correspondent Ian Sample, researchers from the University of St. Andrews, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, and the Budongo Conservation Field Station in Uganda, observed the creatures selectively sounding a warning call, apparently based on whether or not they...
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) on Thursday suspended all new grants for research on chimpanzees after a panel of independent experts’ nine-month deliberation found that most medical experiments on man’s closest primate relative were unwarranted. The Institute of Medicine noted in a report on the ruling that chimpanzees remain indispensable for biomedical and behavioral research that benefits humans, but only in a small number of circumstances and likely not for long....
Given that chimpanzees are so closely related to humans and share similar behavioral traits, the National Institutes of Health should allow their use as subjects in biomedical research only under stringent conditions, including the absence of any other suitable model and inability to ethically perform the research on people, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. In addition, use of these animals should be permissible only if forgoing their use will...
BOSTON, Dec. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine (IOM) today released results of their nine-month long study, called for by the NIH, to investigate the current and future need for chimpanzees in research. The IOM concluded that 'most current biomedical research use of chimpanzees is not necessary.' The only exception was their "inconclusive" decision (a 5-5 split) regarding a "narrow area" of Hep C vaccine work. (Logo:...
Rutgers University evolutionary anthropologist leads 5-year study Rutgers Evolutionary Anthropologist Erin Vogel thinks new research published Dec. 12 in Biology Letters, a Journal of the Royal Society, examining how endangered Indonesian orangutans – considered a close relative to humans -- survive during times of extreme food scarcity might help scientists better understand eating disorders and obesity in humans. "There is such a large obesity epidemic today and yet we don't really...
A recent study shows that, over the last two decades, areas with the greatest decrease in African great ape populations are those with no active protection from poaching by forest guards. Recent studies show that the populations of African great apes are rapidly decreasing. Many areas where apes occur are scarcely managed and weakly protected. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, have carried out an international collaborative project...
Chimps Should Be Chimps, a free iPad book created by Lincoln Park Zoo's Project ChimpCARE, is designed for early readers aged 3 – 8 years. It offers an interactive and engaging story that aims to educate and inform kids – and their parents - about chimpanzees. The story is highlighted with bright, colorful and playful illustrations which seem to come to life with the stroke of a finger on the iPad screen. This multisensory book includes the sounds of waterfalls, music and...
Latest Apes Reference Libraries
The Siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus), is an arboreal gibbon native to the forests of Malaysia, Thailand, and Sumatra. Its range overlaps with the Lar Gibbon and Agile Gibbon. While the illegal pet trade takes a toll on wild populations, the principal threat to Siamang is habitat loss in both Malaysia and Sumatra. Palm oil production is clearing large swathes of forest, reducing Siamang habitat, along with other species such as the Sumatran Tiger. The Siamang can be twice the size as...
The bonobo (Pan paniscus), until recently is usually called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often the dwarf or gracile chimpanzee. It is one of the two species of chimpanzees. Physical characteristics Its head is smaller than that of the Common Chimpanzee but has a higher forehead. It has a black face with pink lips, small ears, wide nostrils, and long hair on its head. Females have slightly prominent breasts in contrast to the flat breasts of other female apes, though not as prominent...
The common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), also known as the robust chimpanzee, is a great ape. Basic facts Common chimpanzees are found in the tropical forests and wet savannas of Western and Central Africa. They once inhabited most of this region, but their habitat has been dramatically reduced in recent years. Adults in the wild weigh between 88 and 143 lbs (40 and 65 kg). Males can measure up to 63 inches (160 cm) and females up to 51 inches (130 cm). They are lighter than humans...
The Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) is the least common of the two species of orangutans. It lives on the Sumatra island of Indonesia. They are smaller than the Bornean orangutan. Baby Sumatran orangutans are often poached as highly prized Zoo Inhabitants. The poachers often kill the baby's mother for no apparent reason. The Sumatran Orangutan is only found north of Lake Toba.
The Bornean orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus is a species of orangutan native to the island of Borneo. It is slightly larger than the other species of orangutan, the Sumatran orangutan. The Bornean orangutan is more common than the Sumatran, with about 45,000 individuals existing in the wild. There are only about 7,500 of the Sumatran species left in the wild. Orangutans are becoming increasingly endangered due to habitat destruction. Many orangutans are killed so that their babies can be captured...
