Formerly one of the most visible orangutans in entertainment, Rocky’s life changes with move to Great Ape Trust of Iowa

Rocky was curious but calm in his new surroundings at Great Ape Trust of Iowa.

Des Moines, Iowa – July 16, 2008 – You don’t know him, but you have seen him and perhaps even lost yourself in a pair of eyes the size of buckeyes and just as brown, soulful pools under a tuft of orange-reddish hair.

Formerly one of the most visible orangutans in entertainment and now one of Great Ape Trust of Iowa’s newest residents, 3-year-old Rocky was featured in a photo spread with recording artist Fergie of The Black Eyed Peas in the magazine Elle’s July 2007 Music Edition. When a female actor kisses a frog in a Capital One credit card commercial, Rocky appears wearing a tiara and, through technological wizardry, appears to be delivering important information about the card’s cash rewards program. Or you may have seen him as an insurance adjuster in an Aflac advertisement.

All that changes with Rocky’s move to Great Ape Trust, a privately funded nonprofit institute in Des Moines, Iowa, conducting non-invasive scientific research into ape intelligence and behavior. Rocky and his mother, Katy, 19, arrived at Great Ape Trust on July 12 and are part of a group of orangutans who will move to Des Moines from the Los Angeles area by early 2009.

At Great Ape Trust, the former entertainment orangutans will have the luxury to explore the upper reaches of their new three-story home, an expansive structure designed to simulate orangutans’ wild environments. The new 3-acre outdoor forest yard offers the red apes additional territory to explore and the allure of dozens of climbable trees – where wild orangutans, a Malay word literally translated to mean “man of the forest,” spend most of their time.

The move to Great Ape Trust will expose Rocky to novel opportunities, such as using computers, learning symbols and participating in ongoing scientific research.

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

“One of my strongest interests as a scientist is understanding orangutans’ mental abilities over the course of their lifetimes, and having the ability to now begin with a very young individual who’s obviously very bright is a remarkable opportunity for Great Ape Trust and for Rocky,” said Shumaker, who began collaborating with Azy, now 30, when the orangutan was about 6.

Shumaker and his colleagues are looking forward to the end of a 30-day acclimation period when the young ape can be introduced to current residents Azy, Knobi and Allie, and he expects socialization to occur quickly.

“Unquestionably, this is a big transition for Rocky and all of the apes coming here,” Shumaker said. “It’s going to be a big change. It’s also a big transition for the apes that live here. This is as much about Azy, Knobi and Allie as it is about Rocky or Katy or any of the others.”

Shumaker and his colleagues expect the introduction of new orangutans to the current population to dramatically change the social environment for all individuals because they come from different backgrounds, Shumaker said.

“Azy, Knobi and Allie all grew up in a zoo setting, and now we have others who are coming from a very different background,” he said. “We know the orangutans will learn from each other.”

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).