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| News/Research:
:
Oct. 23, 2007
Global
Outreach via Research Conferences |
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Susan
Lutter presents at EFP conerence in Prague |
Conferences
are a great way to discuss research and practices with
peers. In the past few months our staff has presented
at several conferences. Each conference is different in
its own right and provides a wide variety of audience
members with which we share our experience and insight
on the advanced intelligence of gorillas, the need to
care for them to the best of our ability, and importance
of protecting them from extinction.
In August, Susan Lutter, our Executive Director, presented
at the 8th International Conference on Environmental Enrichment
conference in Vienna.The conference brought professionals
together from all over the world to present and discuss
enrichment for animals under human care. From cats and
dogs to gorillas and alligators, the presenters represent
a broad variety of backgrounds.
Zoo Enrichment Signing Technology (ZEST), a program to
guide two-way communication, was presented as a potentially
significant enrichment and husbandry aid for great apes.
Gorillas naturally utilize a number of vocalizations and
gestures to communicate with each other. Building on their
natural ability by teaching them shared gestures –
those understood by keepers and gorillas alike –
can lead to greatly improved care. This was our first
public presentation of ZEST and the response was very
encouraging: there were at least a dozen questions from
the floor, and a number of different institutions - from
Moscow to London to Washington DC - talked with Susan
afterwards about exploring the possibilities of their
participation in our pilot program.
The next month Susan found herself in Prague at the 2nd
Congress of the European Federation for Primatology presenting
on the cognitive abilities and thought processes of gorillas.
Using examples from our thirty-five year study of interspecies
communication between gorillas and humans using American
Sign Language, she demonstrated the gorilla’s ability
to understand the concept of gestural language as a representation
of objects, actions, and ideas, and to use that language
to participate in meaningful two-way communication with
humans.
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Title
Slide at AAZK presentation by Betsy Herrelko |
The
end of September brought the Gorilla Foundation to Texas
for the American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK) National
Conference. The dynamic audience of animal caregivers
and caregiving enthusiasts provided a great venue for
presenting ZEST. Betsy Herrelko, Research Associate and
Operations Supervisor, spoke to an audience of over one
hundred, sharing our thoughts on the benefits of two-way
communication.
Questions from the floor sparked discussion amongst caregivers.
One in particular was about a golden lion tamarin who
frequently gestured what his caregiver interpreted as
“I want” at context-appropriate times. The
focus of our studies has been on great apes and we were
very excited to hear of the goings-on outside of the great
ape community – that meaningful two-way communication,
including gestures outside of formal American Sign Language,
is recognized and encouraged.
Shortly after AAZK, Penny Patterson, President and Director
of Research of the Gorilla Foundation was a guest speaker
at the Jane Goodall Institute’s annual ChimpanZoo
conference. Speaking to a broad audience of her peers
in research and care and Koko fans, Penny discussed the
recent resurgence of research in the area of gestural
communication. She demonstrated that all species of great
apes spontaneously use gestures and that two-way communication
is not limited to primates nor formal sign language. Every
method is different, and we feel it’s greatly important
to be open to finding anyway to communicate with the amazing
beings that are a part of our lives.
Being approached by several individuals and institutions
interested in collaborating in future research is true
testament to the overall desire to enhance the lives of
the animals in our care. We look forward to presenting
our work at future conferences, and sharing as much as
possible on our website and via our eNewsLetters.
by Betsy Herrelko
Research Associate and Operations Supervisor
Email
research_feedback@koko.org
with questions regarding the Gorilla Foundations Interspecies
Communication Research Program.
Thank you!
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©
Copyright 2007 The Gorilla Foundation/Koko.org.
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