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Dr. Rob Shumaker is a vocal opponent to the inappropriate portrayal of great apes in the media. |
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Des Moines, Chicago surveys link inappropriate media portrayals of chimpanzees to misconceptions about their conservation status
Des Moines, Iowa – March 14, 2008 – Scientists should be more outspoken in their opposition to the inappropriate portrayal of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in the media or risk undermining their own important scientific, welfare and conservation work, an esteemed group of primatologists argue in a letter accepted for publication this week in Science magazine.
Dr. Rob Shumaker, director of orangutan research at Great Ape Trust of Iowa and a research associate at the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study, is a co-author of the letter written by lead author Steve Ross, supervisor of behavioral and cognitive research at the Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Great Apes at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo and chairman of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association’s (AZA) Chimpanzee Species Survival Plan (SSP).
Other signatories are Dr. Jane Goodall, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute; Dr. Kristen E. Lukas, curator of conservation and science at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo; Dr. Elizabeth V. Lonsdorf, director of the Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Great Apes; Dr. Tara Stoinski, manager of conservation projects for Zoo Atlanta and chairwoman of the AZA’s Ape Taxon Advisory Group; and Dr. Brian Hare, an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Anthropology and Anatomy at Duke University in Durham, N.C.
The authors of the letter, titled “Inappropriate Use and Portrayal of Chimpanzees,” report that perceptions of chimpanzees based on entertainment and media negatively influence how members of the general public perceive the apes’ conservation status. Chimpanzees, like all types of great apes, are endangered in the wild.
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Depicting chimpanzees as caricatures of humans alter perceptions about the endangered great ape. |
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Shumaker and his co-authors pointed out that even the American Association for the Advancement of Science pictured chimpanzees reading Science, the AAAS’s weekly magazine, as part of a promotional campaign. The AAAS shelved the campaign when scientists made their objections known, but the authors of the letter implored the organization’s leaders to take a more active role in promoting ethical practices not only in their own research, but also in the public relations and advertising industries.
With like-minded organizations such as the International Society of Primatologists (ISP) and the AZA, “we can make progress in shifting the perception of chimpanzees as frivolous sub-humans that are not in danger of extinction to more scientifically accurate characterizations of our closest relatives that stir interest, respect and conservation effort,” the scientists wrote.
The paper, published in the March 14 issue of Science, cites a 2006 survey of 132 visitors to Great Ape Trust in which only 75 percent of respondents thought chimpanzees were endangered, compared with 95 percent for gorillas and 93 percent for orangutans. Of those who did not know that chimpanzees are endangered, 30 percent cited the frequency with which they see chimpanzees used in entertainment or kept as pets as reasons for believing chimpanzees exist in robust numbers.
The Great Ape Trust survey replicated data from a similar survey in 2005 of visitors to the Regenstein Center for African Apes (RCAA) at the Lincoln Park Zoo. There, only 66 percent believed chimpanzees to be endangered, compared with 95 percent and 91 percent who believed gorillas and orangutans, respectively, to be endangered.
These data sets are the first to link the inappropriate portrayal of great apes in the media to conservation attitudes among the general public, according to the authors. “Given the reality facing chimpanzees in the wild – current estimates are that populations could go extinct in the next several decades – such data highlight the importance of accurately representing chimpanzees and other apes in popular media, particularly by professional publications such as Science,” the authors wrote.
In addition to conservation issues, policies allowing the use of chimpanzees by the entertainment industry should be re-examined from an ape welfare standpoint, the authors said. They noted that although care of the apes is regulated by the Animal Welfare Act, enforcement of the regulations is difficult and chimpanzees in many instances face short- and long-term consequences from suboptimal rearing, housing and care.
In much of the United States, chimpanzees can be privately owned as pets or used in entertainment. Iowa is one of only six states prohibiting the private ownership of great apes and other wild animals, as well as their use as actors and/or photo-props in the entertainment industry.
Great Ape Trust Background
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 cognitive and communicative capabilities.
Great Ape Trust is dedicated to providing sanctuary and an honorable life for great apes, studying the intelligence of great apes, advancing conservation of great apes and providing unique educational experiences about great apes. Great Ape Trust of Iowa is a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit organization and is certified by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). |
Great Ape Trust is certified by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums
