For my final event, I took a course on Great Apes through the San Diego Zoo on June 11, 2020. This course was led by Donna Parham. Donna Parham is an Interpretation Specialist at San Diego Zoo Global. She has been in this career for 30 years and over those years, she has had experience in exhibits, research, and being a tour guide. In this course, I learned a little bit about the different types of primates but specifically about Great Apes. Great Apes include: Chimpanzees, Bonbons, Gorillas (Eastern and Western), Orangutans (Sumatra and Borneo), and humans. The main thing that differentiates Great Apes from other primates is that they don’t have tails and have opposable thumbs. All apes have hairless faces. Great Apes are more closely related to Old World Monkeys than New World Monkeys. One thing that I found interesting was that all primates have fingerprints. For the most part, all Great Apes eat leaves, fruits, stems, and insects. Some will also eat soil and honey and Chimpanzees will eat other mammals including monkeys.
I used to think that all apes lived in the same area, they do all live in Africa and orangutans in Asia but they live in different countries and have very different lifestyles which I honestly didn’t expect. All apes are good climbers and most of them eat, sleep, and socialize in trees. Sumatran orangutans are the most arboreal (prefer to stay high in the forest), they spend most of their lives on trees and rarely come down to the ground. Bornean orangutans regularly descend from the ground to trees but are also arboreal. Both chimpanzees and bonobos have homes on the ground and in trees. And gorillas can climb but they prefer to spend more time on the ground. On the ground, most apes walk on all four arms and legs. They can also walk bipedally (on 2 legs) but mainly when caring food or tools. Out of all apes, bonobos are the most bipedal as well as young apes. Gorillas and chimpanzees will sometimes walk upright to show dominance or aggression. Fun Fact: Chimpanzees are the most problematic of the Great Apes family. All Great Apes sleep in nests. Most of the nest in trees, Chimpanzees are known for sleeping really high up in trees (as high as 130 ft above the ground). Gorillas on the other hand prefer to sleep on the ground. Both Chimpanzees and Bonobos live in communities. They travel and live in groups called parties. Chimpanzees live in “Stable Units” however, the communities rarely all come together. Their societies are male-dominated and have a hierarchy based on male alliances. All of the males patrol the borders of the communities’ territory. They will attack invaders if they can outnumber them or if they can easily overtake him. As stated in the course, “The prevailing theory is that by removing males from neighboring communities the attackers strengthen their own community.” Bonobos typically interact with their community daily. In their society, mother and son bonds are very important, their relationships influence their status with the community. In contrast to Chimpanzee’s communities, females play an important role in their community and are also less aggressive. Gorillas live in groups called troops which includes between 5 and 30 individuals. A troop is a group of females and their offspring led by a strong and experienced silverback. Troops can have more than 1 silverback only if the dominant silverback allows it but this is more common in Eastern gorillas. Orangutans are a bit different, they live a solitary life. According to scientists, their social systems likely evolved as a result of diet since fruits are scattered over a wide area and they had to separate to get enough food. The most common group form in their society is a mom and her infant. An infant stays with their mom for 7-8 years. In this time they have to learn where food is located and its season. This course was very different compared to all the other zoo courses I took because this was a collection course on Apes. I really enjoyed learning about all of these amazing animals but my favorite would have to be this one. I remember when I was little I was obsessed with primates. For the longest Chimpanzees were my favorite animals. I would only check out chimpanzee books from the library and write all of my class essays on them. This course was really fun, I felt the most engaged with this one out. Even though I enjoyed this one the most it was harder than the others. This one was much harder because it was difficult to keep track of all the Great Apes as well as their lifestyles, habits, reproduction, and characteristics. All of these apes are endangered. Sumatran orangutans and both gorillas are classified as endangered. Chimpanzees, bonobos, and Bornean orangutans are classified as critically endangered. Some laws protect these apes but sadly they aren’t enforced and people continue to bushmeat hunt. Apes are also suspenseful to various diseases. The most devastating one is Ebola, in the three outbreaks that have been recorded 95% of gorillas died. Another reason that has caused the decline in the population of Great Apes is logging, deforestation, and climate change. Many different organizations are helping to preserve Great Apes. The is a studbook used by zoos that holds information about ape species in North America. This studbook includes a listing of every individual animal, its parents, date of birth, and current location in animal care facilities. “An emerging technology known as DNA barcoding provides a method for identifying the species from a small quantity of blood, bone, meat, hair, feathers, or feces. DNA barcoding has the potential to evaluate and demonstrate the scope of the bushmeat problem.” We can also help conserve Great Apes by spreading the word, purchasing semi-postal species stamps through the Save Vanishing Wildlife, supporting AZA-accredited Zoos, supporting the San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy, purchasing certified wood, and by challenging ourselves to purchase palm oil free items.
Geography of Great Apes Chimpanzees - Equatorial Africa from Southern Senegal to Western Uganda. Bonobos - Congo Basin and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Eastern gorillas - Rwanda, Uganda, and DRC Western gorillas - West of Congo Rover, South Central African Republic, and Western DRC Sumatran orangutans - Sumatran Island in Indonesia Bornean orangutans - Borneo Island (divides Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei)