Des Moines, Iowa – July 6, 2010 – Floodwaters are dropping at Great Ape Trust and operations at the scientific research facility in southeast Des Moines should return to normal the next day or two. All but five acres of the 230-acre Great Ape Trust campus were under floodwaters that crested on Saturday, July 3. Despite the flooding, water levels remained about five feet below the record levels of 2008 that caused $1.25 million in damage. Throughout this year’s flooding, the bonobos and orangutans at Great Ape Trust remained safe and calm.
“We will continue to use a motorboat to shuttle supplies to the ape homes for another day or two,” said William M. Fields, director of scientific research at Great Ape Trust. “Toward week’s end we should be able to reach our buildings over our access road. About two feet of water remains there today but it is gradually receding and has dropped 12-18 inches from Saturday’s crest.”
Fields said when Great Ape Trust’s access road reopens, staff schedules will return to normal.
Background Information
Great Ape Trust, is a scientific research facility in Des Moines, Iowa, dedicated to understanding the origins and future of culture, language, tools and intelligence, and to the preservation of endangered great apes in their natural habitats. Announced in 2002 and receiving its first ape residents in 2004, Great Ape Trust is home to a colony of seven bonobos involved in noninvasive interdisciplinary studies of their cognitive and communicative capabilities, and to six orangutans. To learn more about Great Ape Trust, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, go to GreatApeTrust.org
