Perry Beeman from The Des Moines Register dug a little deeper into the flood situation at the Iowa Great Ape Trust to discover that the bonobos were in fact a little scared by the rising flood waters, while the orangutans, whose natural habitat regularly floods, were calm, cool and collected. Most fascinating to us bonobo lovers is that we know the bonobos were uncomfortable with the situation not just because of their behavior - and our interpretation of their behavior - but because of Kanzi and his ability to communicate with humans.

Using his lexigram (picture board with symbols representing words and concepts), Kanzi was able to tell his people that he was afraid of ‘water gorillas’ (beavers) and ‘big water’. Thankfully, this communication works both ways and the scientists were able to tell the bonobos that the water would stop and that they’d be okay. Another way that researchers let the apes know that everything was okay was to stick to their routines, making sure to do some of their standard research activities everyday. Click here to read Beeman’s full article.

But the best news is that the flood waters have receded and a massive clean-up is underway. Thankfully the danger has passed, and all of the apes are okay. Good luck to the clean-up crews and everyone at the Great Ape Trust…and thanks for all that you do!

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