FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 11, 2004

CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119, lisa.lacher@drake.edu

DRAKE TO HOST SYMPOSIUM ON THE PLIGHT OF GREAT APES NOV. 20

On Saturday, Nov. 20, Drake University will host The Great Ape Crisis, a symposium on the threat of extinction faced by all species of the great apes. The event will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Bulldog Theater in Olmsted Center, 29th Street and University Avenue.

“It’s conceivable that in five or six years, one species of orangutans could disappear from the face of the earth,” said Robert Shumaker, director of the orangutan research program at Great Ape Trust of Iowa, one of the co-sponsors of the symposium. “It is beyond tragic and must be addressed more urgently by more people.”
Speakers scheduled for the Great Ape Crisis Symposium include:

• Mark Leighton, Harvard University
  “Orangutans as World Heritage Species”
  
• Benjamin Beck, Great Ape Trust
  “Reintroduction of African Apes”
  
• Robert Shumaker, Great Ape Trust, Balikpapan Orangutan Society - USA and Borneo Orangutan Society - Indonesia
  “Great Apes in Entertainment and the Pet Trade”
  
• Duane Rumbaugh, Great Ape Trust
  “Lessons by the 'Forest People' Taught in My Office, Laboratory and Life”
  
• Anne Russon, Glendon College of York University, Balikpapan Orangutan Society - USA and Borneo Orangutan Society - Indonesia
  “The Social Life of the Solitary Ape: Culture and Cognition in
  Orangutan Conservation”
  
• Roberto Delgado, Hunter College: City University of New York
  “Using Field Research to Conserve Orangutans”

The event is free and open to the public; however, tickets must be reserved in advance. Those interested in attending may register online at www.GreatApeTrust.org or by calling (515) 243-3580. Reserved tickets will be distributed at the door. In addition to Drake University and Great Ape Trust of Iowa, the symposium is co-sponsored by the Balikpapan Orangutan Society - USA and Borneo Orangutan Society - Indonesia.

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