![[Picture is Kanzi, a male bonobo, participating in a touchscreen research task investigating syntax processing in great apes]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2020/04/Kanzi-touchscreen.png)
The Animal Welfare Act of 1966 was brought about by two major media publications. In Sports Illustrated, Pepper, the Dalmatian, had disappeared from her family’s front yard, only to have been found at an east coast hospital and after having been euthanized, following an experimental medical research study involving an early model of a pacemaker. Pepper had been snatched from her owner’s front yard, and then sold for use in medical research, all without their knowledge…
Entries by Chloe Holden
What’s it like to work with primates? Interviews from the Ape Initiative
![[Bonobos in an outdoor enclosure, with several platforms, ropes, and other objects to simulate a more natural environment. ]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2020/01/65318852_1163514153847781_3133089543335444480_o.jpg)
In this post, ScIU blogger Chloe Holden interviews staff members at the Ape Initiative in Iowa. She covers topics like: What is it like working with nonhuman primates on a regular basis? What surprised you the most when you were getting to know the bonobos? What’s your favorite part about working with the bonobos? and others…
You’re not too important to pick up poop: The quirks and perks of working with primates
![[Pictured are the seven bonobo residents of the Ape Initiative. Starting in the top left to right is Kanzi, Maisha, Elikya and Nyota. The bottom row from left to right is Mali, Clara, and Teco.]](https://blogs.iu.edu/sciu/files/2020/01/bonobos-at-ACCI.png
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For the past three and a half years, I have been volunteering at the Ape Initiative as part of my research interests in primatology and cognition research. The Ape Initiative is a non-profit research and conservation facility that is home to 7 bonobos (Pan paniscus) and counting! Bonobos are one of the closest living relatives to humans, sharing about 98-99% of their DNA…
What’s up with leap years?
Today is February 29. Unlike every other day in the year, this day only shows up in the calendar once every four years… but why? To understand this, we’re going to use a little bit of history and astronomy to get to the calendar that most of the world uses today. First, let’s talk about… Read more »
An Archaeological Introduction to Coding in Python
Programming skills are not only becoming more in demand in industry jobs, they’re also becoming a required skill in academia as well. Programming is now used in almost every discipline for tasks such as data collection, organization, and analysis. In this post, I’m going to demonstrate how some basic programming in Python can be used… Read more »
7 Tips on How You Can Help the Environment
This is part three in a series on primates and conservation. Check out parts one and two here. If you want to help with saving our environment and animal conservation efforts follow the tips below! Even the smallest efforts can make an impact on primate conservation, and help combat against the effects of global warming.
Primates: Nature’s Grounds Keepers
This is the second installment of the Primate Conversations Series. You can read Part 1 here. In the past year, the iconic video below has become the face of orangutan conservation efforts: a young male orangutan confronting a bulldozer as it destroys the forest around him. Orangutan populations once stretched from the islands of Indonesia… Read more »
World Elephant Day
World Elephant Day, coming up on Monday, August 12th, was established in 2012 as a way to celebrate these wonderful mammals and promote conservation efforts. There are two main genera alive today: the African elephant (Loxodonta) and the Asian elephant (Elephas). The African elephant genus is split between two species the African bush elephant (Loxodonta… Read more »
Back to the Stone Age: Why study primate archaeology?
This is the first installment of the Primate Conversation Series. You can read parts two and three here! In 1960, Jane Goodall observed a chimpanzee, whom she named David Greybeard, deep in the Tanzanian jungle using a stick to fish for termites. This discovery was the first documented observation of a chimpanzee using tools in… Read more »