Shortly after her arrival in Des Moines, Katy enjoys a juice box in the great room of the orangutan home at Great Ape Trust.

Des Moines, Iowa – July 16, 2008 – Katy and Rocky, two orangutans who moved to Great Ape Trust of Iowa on July 12 after having been retired from the entertainment industry, have passed a battery of medical tests and will be introduced to current residents Azy, Knobi and Allie after a 30-day acclimation period.

Great Ape Trust staff veterinarian Dr. Brigetta Hughes explained that quarantines are standard animal husbandry practice and should not be interpreted negatively. It’s a routine practice to allow a 30-day acclimation period. Both Katy, 19, and her son, Rocky, 3, are in excellent health.

“Their physical exams were very thorough and the amount of diagnostic tests assures that they are in good health, ” Hughes said. “They have had more complete lab tests than I have ever had,” added Dr. Rob Shumaker, director of orangutan research. “They are perfectly healthy.”

The same protocol will be followed with the other orangutans involved in the agreement between Great Ape Trust of Iowa and Steve Martin’s Working Wildlife, a Los Angeles-area company that provides trained animals for entertainment and advertising.

The 3-year-old orangutan wasted little time in exploring his new home at The Trust.

With Katy, Rocky and the other entertainment orangutans yet to arrive at The Trust, the primary need for a 30-day acclimation period is not related to health, but to helping the new residents adjust to new diets, new surroundings and living with different orangutans. It also gives the current orangutan residents time to adjust to their new companions.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

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).