Great Ape Trust surrounded by floodwaters but all is well

Des Moines, Iowa – July 3, 2010 – The 230 acre campus of Great Ape Trust is now 225 acres of lake. Floodwaters crested earlier today at the scientific research facility in southeast Des Moines leaving only five acres of dry land, however, the floodwaters stayed about five feet below the record level of 2008. The access road from Great Ape Trust’s front entrance to the bonobo and orangutan homes is under several feet of water and the only way to reach the labs now is by motorboat.

“Despite the high water, all is well. The bonobo and orangutan labs are dry and the apes are safe, happy and calm,” said William M. Fields, director of scientific research at Great Ape Trust. “We have staff with the apes around the clock and everything is running according to the flood plan we created more than four months ago.”

Fields complimented members of the Iowa Department of Transportation who have visited The Trust several times before and during the flooding to check on conditions and provide any necessary assistance.

This is the second time in two years that the campus of Great Ape Trust has been flooded. The record Floods of 2008 resulted in $1.25 million in damage and the loss of four administration trailers. Though the bonobo and orangutan laboratories were built one foot above Floods of 1993 levels, the floodwaters in 2008 on and near the Great Ape Trust campus rose significantly higher than that. The four-lane U.S. Highway 65/69 beltway that is downstream from Great Ape Trust was built after the Floods of ’93 and has compounded flooding in that area. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Iowa Department of Transportation are working to address that issue.