Great Apes in show business

I am late getting out, but wanted to share, a front page story from the Monday, August 15, Des Moines Register, headed "Use of apes in ads worries scientists; Ape Trust's Shumaker thinks 'some kind of abuse' is inevitable."

It opens:
"Scientists at the Great Ape Trust of Iowa have teamed with colleagues at several major zoos to oppose the use of apes and monkeys in advertisements and entertainment, because they say the animals often are abused.

"Animal welfare groups have documented apes being shocked with prods and beaten with broom handles, tire irons, fists and hammers. For years, they have fought to expose and stop abuse. Now, with a growing contingent of scientists fighting the same battle, the issue is getting more attention.

"'Many animals are kept in disastrous conditions,' said Philippe Cousteau, president of EarthEcho International, a nonprofit conservation group. 'It definitely elevates the debate to have respected scientists involved.'

The article discusses the popularity of apes in television advertising. Those who provide the animals say they are trained with positive reinforcement.

Robert Shumaker, director of orangutan research at the Great Ape Trust of Iowa says that though young apes may not always be beaten, "in those cases, the apes typically were taken away from their mothers as infants -an experience he describes as emotionally and psychologically damaging. Those who take young apes from the wild often shoot the protective mothers..."

The article then tells us "As entertainment apes get older and more defiant, many are beaten, shocked, castrated or forced to have teeth pulled by private owners determined to make money as the apes perform on demand, Shumaker added. 'The abuse comes when no one is looking,' Shumaker said. And that ape smile that so often graces the silver screen? 'It's not a smile,' he said. 'It's a fear grimace.'

"When older apes stop performing, they are often sent to substandard, unaccredited zoos, he said."

The article refers to Jane Goodall and a coalition of researchers called the Chimpanzee Collaboratory. You can find out more about that group at http://www.chimpcollaboratory.org/ and watch a terrific short film on the group's website at: http://www.chimpcollaboratory.org/news/movie.asp

You can read the full Des Moines Register article on line at:
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050815/NEWS08/508150356/1010/NEWS08 OR http://tinyurl.com/bld8t

The front page story provides a great opportunity against the use of wild animals for human entertainment. The Register takes letters at:
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/HELP/40507010 OR http://tinyurl.com/cduqy


(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. If you forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts, please do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this tag line.)