$75,000 TO BORNEO REHABILITATION CENTER

ORANGUTAN CONSERVANCY DIRECTS $75,000 TO BORNEO REHABILITATION CENTER

The Orangutan Conservancy, which raises funds and awareness on behalf of orangutan projects in Southeast Asia, today directed a $75,000 grant from the Arcus Foundation's Great Apes Fund to the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction Project in Borneo to protect and care for the orphaned apes.

The funds will be used to construct new quarantine facilities, erect fences to protect island release habitats, and purchase fire-fighting equipment for the staff at Nyaru Menteng, which cares for over 600 injured and unwanted orangutans at its facility in Central Kalimantan.

The donation was announced at the Orangutan Species Survival Plan (SSP) Husbandry Workshop at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago.

Recent Orangutan Workshop

Several of ACE's board members have just returned from a workshop held at Chicago's Brookfield Zoo which focused on orangutan conservation and care of orangutans in zoological settings. It was an international gathering of field scientists, zoo personnel, and academics all of whom are concerned about the critical nature of orangutan survival. Below are two links to related articles as a result of this meeting.


Brookfield experts make an appeal for the apes
Chicago Daily Herald, October 19, 2007
http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/scripts/external.php?link=7569

Answers sought to save Asia's orangutans
Independent Online, October 19, 2007
http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/scripts/external.php?link=7570

Hogle Zoo pitching in expertise to help save Bornean orangutans
http://origin.sltrib.com/ci_7202315

Halloween Candy

Be an informed consumer for Halloween and be careful about the candies you buy and give out. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo staff have been very diligently researching palm oil and disseminating the information so that more people can choose wisely when they shop.

"Like many zoos, we have a Halloween event (ours is called Boo at the Zoo) with sponsors handing out candy. In the past the sponsors brought their own candy. To have better control over the quality we are now charging the sponsors a fee and we provide the candy. So, to help our events staff make candy decisions that reflect our commitment to the palm oil issue, we went to a large national store where we are going to purchase the candy, and looked at the labels of all the candy products offered there. Here are the results of our research, if anyone would like to use this list. Candy choices - palm oil info <http://www.cmzoo.org/Palmoil-candy.pdf> You can also access this list on the CMZ palm oil page, look for the pumpkins."

Hope it is helpful!
Dina Bredahl,
Animal Care ManagerCheyenne Mountain Zoo

Recently in the news

Sierra Leone steps up efforts to save chimpanzees
AFP, October 2, 2007
http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/scripts/external.php?link=7509

Malaysia returns four orangutans to Indonesia
AFP, September 27, 2007
http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/scripts/external.php?link=7497

Guerrilas in Their Midst
Smithsonian, October 2007
http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/scripts/external.php?link=7488

Congo rangers break suspected gorilla traffic ring
Reuters, September 25, 2007
http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/scripts/external.php?link=7489

Orphan chimps turned killer find Leone refuge
Scientific American, September 26, 2007
http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/scripts/external.php?link=7491

'Green Fuel' Harming Rainforests
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30400-1286104,00.html

Dian Fossey Fund Expands to Help Save Congo Mountain Gorillas
E-Wire, September 21, 2007
http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/scripts/external.php?link=7473

Fate of Western Lowland Gorillas is worsened

On Thursday, October 11, Minnesota Public Radio hosted an hour-long program on the worsening situation of the western gorilla, which has been recently reassessed as Critically Endangered. To explore this and related issues in great ape conservation, MPR interviewed Peter Walsh of the Max Planck Institute, whose research has documented the severe effects of Ebola on great ape populations, and Michael Hoffmann, a biodiversity analyst with IUCN and a key figure in the recent great apes assessment.

Listen to the broadcast:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/10/11/midmorning2

Don't be fooled by biofuel claims

Indonesia's government is supporting a new initiative to increase palm oil plantations to provide palm oil for biofuel. See the following article:
http://www.ecoearth.info/alerts/send.asp?id=indonesia_peatland

A related article about paying countries to protect rainforests:
http://www.ecoearth.info/alerts/send.asp?id=climate_rainforest


Oil for ape scandal - research report
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/oil_for_ape_full.pdf

World Conservation Union Publishes New Red List

The new World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List has been published.
www.iucn.org/redlist

Gorillas now 'critically endangered'
Associated Press, September 12, 2007
http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/scripts/external.php?link=7469