Orangutan Conference

CHICAGO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETYS BROOKFIELD ZOO PRESENTS: THE ORANGUTAN SSP© HUSBANDRY WORKSHOP

BROOKFIELD ZOO IS PLEASED TO HOST THE FIRST SSP© ORANGUTAN HUSBANDRY WORKSHOP TO BE OCTOBER 2007. This workshop will focus on the care and management of the orangutan in a zoological parks and sanctuaries. The workshop will bring together orangutan caregivers, managers, researchers, and field biologists to share and disseminate the most current information on husbandry, conservation, and emergent issues pertaining to zoo and wild populations of orangutans. Experts will present papers, posters, or videos pertaining to environmental enrichment, positive reinforcement training, nutrition, medical management, introductions, birth management, public education, conservation and general orangutan management. Tropic World keepers even put together a skating party fundraiser to help make this event possible. Orangutan Workshop Speakers Information Here is a compilation of invited speakers for our orangutan workshop in October. Keynote Speaker: Dr. Serge Wich – Great Ape Trust of Iowa Dr. Wich is an accomplished orangutan researcher. He is a visiting scientist on staff at the Great Ape Trust of Iowa and is an Adjunct assistant professor at Drake University in Iowa. Since 1997, he has been the Research Program Manager for the Ketambe Research Station in Sumatra, Indonesia and is a member of the IUCN/SSC Great Ape Group. He has published numerous papers on the wild orangutan on topics such as orangutan conservation challenges and strategies, ecology, behavior and development.

Featured Speakers Lori Perkins, Zoo Atlanta, Orangutan SSP Chair, AZA Animal Welfare Committee Chair – Lori has served as the SSP chairperson for 25 years. Lori will present an overview of the current SSP population and discuss the challenges facing orangutans in zoos

Dr. Rob Shumaker, Great Ape Trust of Iowa, Orangutan SSP Vice Chair – Rob is the director of the Great Ape Trust and will present information on the Trust’s innovative facility design and his cognitive work on orangutans. Prior to becoming the director of the Trust, Rob was instrumental in developing the “Think Tank” and “O Line”, two very innovative and unique exhibits at the National Zoo. These two projects demonstrated the cognitive abilities of the orangutans in an interactive setting for zoo guests while the “O Line” was a unique exhibit that allowed their orangutans to travel in an arboreal manner throughout the National Zoo Dr. Deb Schmidt – Nutritionist, San Diego Zoo, Orangutan SSP Nutrition Advisor – Deb will teach workshop participants about the unique aspects of orangutan physiology and their nutritional needs. Dusty Lombardi, Curator of Living Collections, Ape Taxon Advisory Group (TAG) Birth Management Committee Chairperson, Columbus Zoo – Dusty will discuss the recent formation of the Ape TAG’s Birth Management Group and their mission to promote all aspects of proper birth management for any ape within the AZA population Carol Sodaro, Orangutan SSP Husbandry Advisor, Lead Keeper, Brookfield Zoo – Carol will discuss husbandry trends over the past 15 years including information on general behavior, introductions, animal transfers and rearing trends of the AZA population Tim Sullivan, Behavioral Husbandry Manager, Brookfield Zoo – Tim will teach a short class on positive reinforcement training techniques to workshop participants. Following the class, a problem solving session will be held to help participants with orangutan training challenges they are facing. Patti Ragan – Director, Center for Great Apes – Patti will discuss her mission at the Center for Great Apes which is the only orangutan sanctuary for ex-pets and show business animals in the country. Patti has been featured on NBC’s Dateline and World News tonight. Dr. Bob Lacy, Brookfield Zoo, IUCN Chairperson – Bob will provide an overview of the work that has been done at recent PHVA (Population Habitat Viability Assessment) workshops held in Indonesia. This will include assessments of the wild orangutan’s status as well as identifying priority conservation actions. Bob will be a panel member of the Conservation Roundtable Discussion portion of the workshop. Norm Rosen – President of the Orangutan Conservancy and a member of the CBSG (Conservation Breeding Specialists Group). Norm plans on launching a new conservation initiative at this workshop. He is hoping to form a consortium between zoological personnel and field biologists to address the rapid decline of the wild orangutan. He plans on introducing this concept to both European and Australian zoos in subsequent years. Norm will also be a participant in the Conservation Roundtable Discussion. The Orangutan Conservancy is hosting the icebreaker for our workshop in order to launch his initiative. Norm is having the Orangutan Conservancy Board of Directors meeting during the workshop in order to show support for formation of this group which will may include many noted orangutan field researchers. Range Country Participants: Dr. Ian Singleton – Director of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Project, Sumatra and Asril the Manager of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Project will present information on the challenges of reintroducing orangutans to the wild and an overview of their project.

PALM OIL ISSUE One of the many important discussions to be held at this meeting will include the devastating effects that palm oil is having on wild orangutans and their habitat. Palm oil is found in various food and personal care products. The demand for palm oil is so high that plantations are spreading throughout the country at a rapid pace. As a result, the orangutan’s natural habitat is shrinking and it’s trapping them into small patches of forest with no where else to go. Indonesia is facing the highest rate of tropical rain forest loss in the world. The deforestation rate is about 4.9 million acres of rainforest each year. That is slightly larger than the size of the state of New Jersey! SUSTAINABLE YIELD palm oil is very important to the livelihood of millions of people in Indonesia. When it is produced NONSUSTAINABLY, thousands of orangutans perish each year, due to clear cutting of rainforests and uncontrolled burns. In 1997-98 an uncontrolled burn of these palm oil plantations took the lives of 8,000 orangutans in Borneo. NON-SUSTAINABLE palm oil plantations not only destroy biodiversity, but land is often forcibly taken from indigenous people resulting in the violation of human rights, worker exploitation and blood shed. Many of these plantation workers are also killing and torturing these animals who have resorted to eating palm oil seeds to survive. The wild population of Bornean orangutans is estimated at 45,000-50,000. There are 15 times more deer in the state of Colorado alone than there are orangutans on Earth! There are about 7,300 Sumatran orangutans in the wild and are on the list of top 25 most endangered primates in the world.

Orangutans will be extinct in the wild in the next 10 years if the palm oil industry, deforestation and burning of peat forest does not stop now. HOW YOU CAN HELP! • Read product labels at the store and find the labels that contain no palm oil OR labels that contain sustainable yield palm oil or palmitate (Product List www.angelfire.com/planet/palmoilproducts) • How will you know when Palm Oil is sustainable yield? o Start with a Shopping Guide to Sustainable Yield Palm Oil Products Put a link to the PDF file for the Pocket Palm Oil Sustainable Yield Shopping Guide. • Involve your family; make a game out of it! • Ask for FSC (Forest Stewardship Council)-certified wood products and lumber (or recycled wood).· • Try to avoid wood products, such as furniture and picture frames, made of teak, ebony, sandalwood, ironwood or mahogany; also avoid dowels made from ramin. • Educate yourself and tell your friends – spread the word and encourage sustainable palm oil production and labeling. • Donate to organizations like the web sites listed below.

RESOURCE LINKS Forest Stewardship Council www.fscus.org Great Ape Trust www.greatapetrust.org Nyaru Meteng Orangutan Rehabilitation Center www.orangutan.com/projects_nyarumenteng.html Orangutan Conservancy www.orangutan.com Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) www.rspo.org SAWIT Watchwww.sawitwatch.or.id (Indonesian website; translates to “Palm Oil Watch”) Sumatran Orangutan Society www.orangutans-sos.org United States Agency for International Development (USAID) www.usaid.gov/ World Wildlife Foundation www.wwf.org(search: palm oil; Borneo; Sumatra) Cheyenne Mountain Zoo www.cmzoo.org/palmoil.html For further questions please contact Nicole Howlett at [email protected]

At the bottom of the page have a list of the sponsors / donors info After the workshop is over, have a place to put the workshop proceedings