Upon returning from his whirlwind tour of the bonobo hotspots around the States, James Brooks, the #1 Bonobo Fan, took time out from his incredible fundraising activities to talk to Bonobo Kids.

Bonobo Kids: Hi James! First things first, rumor has it that you raised $4,300 for the Great Ape Trust of Iowa’s Bowling for Apes fundraiser! Congratulations!!!
James: Thank you!

BK: You had over 280 sponsors for the event, who did you ask?
James: Well, lots of friends and family! Also my dad is a professor at a University and I went to work with him one day, talked to a lot of people and asked them to sponsor me. Then my mom took me to the hospital where she works and I gained some more sponsors. Also, my website got a lot of people interested, and I put a bunch of fliers in mailboxes in my neighborhood.

BK: Have you participated in Bowling for Apes before?
James: The first year, I didn’t. Last year, I raised $1,050, but couldn’t attend. So this was the first year that I raised money and got to go to the event.

BK: Tell us about the event!
James: A bunch of people fundraised like I did, but most of them live in Iowa and it was easier for them to get to the event than it was for me. I had to drive from Canada! At the event, there is a bowling area where you sign in so that the people at the Great Ape Trust can contact you and let you know how they will use the money. Then we bowled and got to meet a lot of other people who are into apes. And we got to see a lot of scientists and people involved in the Great Ape Trust. Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh bowled in our lane with us!

BK: How did you first hear about bonobos?
James: I’ve always been interested in primates, but I didn’t like how violent they could be. Then I found out about bonobos in a great ape documentary, and how they were more peaceful. I really liked that so I just kept learning more.

BK: Have you ever met a bonobo?
James: I’ve been to many zoos to see them San Diego, Columbus, Cincinnatti and Twycross, and of course, the Great Ape Trust of Iowa. On a previous visit to the Great Ape Trust, I got to go behind the scenes because of my donations and the work that I’ve done. I fed Kanzi, and Panbanisha and Kanzi’s nephew, Nyota.

BK: What was that like! That is amazing!
James: I put the salad in a box that moved from the room I was in to Kanzi’s room. I gave him a lot of carrots in his salad one time, and he said that he liked having a lot of carrots in his salad. He used his lexigram to talk to me, but he could understand me when I spoke to him.

BK: Was there anything that surprised you about the bonobos when you saw them up close?
James: I couldn’t believe how much they are like humans - that they do the same things that kids do…I didn’t expect that! They even played chase with me. Kanzi asked me to play with them using the lexigram - I understood him because I had learned what many of the symbols meant. And from opposite sides of the glass, we chased each other all over.

BK: What are your plans for the future?
James: Now that this event is done, I will be doing a few more things to try to help apes:

• I am writing a letter to kids in Africa for the Bonobo Conservation Initiative
• I am going to update my website and my blog
• I am going to raise money for KidsSaveApes to donate to the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund
• I am going to stay involved with all the apes groups I belong to and work for them
• I am going to write to politicians and others who can help ensure that apes are protected and that the people of Africa and Borneo and Sumatra who live near them are looked after.
• I am going to get a Jane Goodall Roots & Shoots group active in my community.

BK: James, we can not thank you enough for all of your efforts…and for telling so many people about I’m Lucy. You are an inspiration and the great apes and this world are lucky to have you!

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This is the story of our gifted photographer, Marian Brickner’s, journey to Lucy - the star of our book, I’m Lucy: A Day in the Life of a Young Bonobo, and it is the second part of our interview - read part 1 here.

After I read, The Forgotten Ape, I started to look for bonobos in United States zoos. I found out that there is a whole family tree of bonobos starting with Linda, who arrived in 1962. I began to take my idea about using photography to change people’s perceptions about hurting other beings and transform it again. I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun if I could do something photographically to show kids that bonobos have families, how much they are like us.’ I hoped that would help them be interested in wanting to help bonobos.

I went to the Milwaukee Zoo first to see Linda and take her picture. I wanted to take pictures of her whole family, so then I went to Fort Worth, Texas to take pictures of Linda’s son, Kevin. When I arrived back at the Milwaukee Zoo with Kevin’s picture, Linda’s keepers couldn’t believe it. “He looks just like his mom!”

Next, I went to San Diego to try to take pictures, and tried to talk to the keepers and take more pictures, but it was very difficult. They were so busy and kept asking, ‘Who are you?’

Then, I had a thought, no one wants to hear doomsday information about the environment. People, myself included want to be inspired and motivated. We want fun and happy. I realized, what could be more fun and happy than children of any kind - so I started looking for bonobo kids to photograph.

So, I tried another zoo that had bonobos - the Jacksonville Zoo. I called ahead of time and talked to a wonderful man named Craig. He was so welcoming and told me to come on down. He said he couldn’t wait to meet me.

When I arrived, the first thing I noticed about the bonobo exhibit was that there is no glass so taking pictures is easier and the photos are better. And, then I saw Lucy…and then Kaleb…and the whole family. It was perfect.

This is the very first picture I took of Lucy at the Jacksonville Zoo. The family portrait. She melted my heart, and I hope she melts yours too.

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The long awaited interview with our very own photographer of the acclaimed children’s book, I’m Lucy.…here’s Marian Brickner!

Bonobo Kids: How did you first learn of bonobos?

Marian: I read the amazing book, The Forgotten Ape by Frans de Waal & Frans Lanting. Instantly, I was struck by 3 things:

1. How did I not know about bonobos? How are bonobos not as familiar to us as chimpanzees, elephants and lions?
2. Bonobos have no documented infanticide (killing of their young) within their species which is a huge leap evolutionarily speaking. Chimpanzees do have infanticide.
3. I knew that I had to do something to introduce kids to these incredibly apes. I had to spread the word.

BK: How did you become a photographer?
Marian: I went to a school in New York called Fieldston, the ethical culture school. We talked about the ethics of every situation. For instance, in kindergarten, we read the story about the three little pigs and talked about things like, ‘Why did the pigs split up? Why did only one pig have access to bricks?’

I went to that school from Pre-K to high school, and my plan was always, ‘how can I do things to make things life better for all people, to be an agent of positive change?’

I loved photography, So I adapted this plan to it, and it transformed some.  Photographically, my mission became this: ‘to stop people from hurting each other’. One of my mentors told me to take pictures every single day to get good. So for six years, I took pictures every day…and I felt great about my skill and I was ready to start applying my mission.

I had this idea that people killed insects because they just thought of them as ‘bugs’, they had no perception of them as individuals. So I began taking pictures that captured insects looking right into my lens. The effect was that there was a face, an individual, an individual going about his/her daily life. I thought that by showing people these images, they could make the leap from insects to people. They would see that just because that person, or bug, doesn’t look like me, they are still individuals and their lives have value.

Coming soon…find out how Marian found bonobos, and most importantly, how she found Lucy!

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As I promised yesterday, here is Delfi’s story of bonobos meeting in the Zoo. Delfi is the Director of Animal Programs at the Jacksonville Zoo and was instrumental in allowing our photographer, Marian Brickner, to document the lives of Lucy and her family for our children’s book, I‘m Lucy: A Day in the Life of a Young Bonobo.

This is the story of a male being introduced to the bonobo family at his new zoo home, starting with one of the established females and her son.

Their first meeting went very well. They did the things that bonobos do when they first meet such as touch each other, look each other over, make a lot of fun bonobo noise, share food and establish dominance. Apparently this male was quite the gentleman and made no threatening gestures towards the female or her son. He knew his place - meaning that he understood full well that this new female friend ranked higher than him. As he moved towards the food, she expertly blocked his path - essentially controlling the food stash - and he politely moved in a different direction; he did what she told him to do!

But, this is our favorite, favorite part of the story. After their first meeting, the zookeepers routinely separate the bonobos once again until their next meeting. They split the bonobos up by guiding them each through separate doors, and it’s done. But the next time they brought these two bonobos together, the apes knew what was coming. When the zookeepers started the process to separate them, the male and female bonobos refused to part. They moved together closely and would not let go so that as the zookeepers encouraged them to move through each door, they did so together. They outsmarted the zookeepers who had no choice but to leave them together for that time.

More from our Delfi interview coming soon!

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Lucy doing a handstand! She’s so big now! photo by Marian Brickner

Delfi Messinger is the Director of Animal Programs at the Jacksonville Zoo, home of Lucy, Kaleb, Lorel and Lexi. And, YES, this means that she can go see the bonobos whenever she wants! Delfi was also a key player in the creation of I’m Lucy. Without her kindness, her love for bonobos and her gracious permission for our photographer, Marian Brickner, to take a zillion pictures of Lucy and her family, this book would not exist today. Many, many thanks to you, Delfi.

We got the chance to talk to Delfi the other day and, literally, had to force ourselves to hang up the phone. She has so many incredible stories, we could have listened all day.

We originally contacted Delfi because of the post we wrote on May 6th where we wondered: are zoos good or bad? This post has been read more than any other post and folks seem very passionate about the subject…so we wanted to go straight to the source at one of our favorite zoos, and see what’s up. Here’s what she had to say:

Bonobo Kids: We know that there are good zoos and bad zoos - and we know that Jacksonville is a very good zoo. Can you tell us why?

Delfi: I’d love to use bonobos specifically to illustrate this point - they are such a great example of why Jacksonville is such a good zoo.

First, we’re an AZA (Association of Zoos & Aquariums) zoo, and incidentally all bonobos in the U.S. are in AZA zoos which means they are in the best facilities in terms of care and conservation and education. The bonobos in Europe are in the European equivalent of AZA zoos.

Jacksonville got the bonobos in 1998, so we’ve had them for 10 years. And one of the cool things about this zoo, like San Diego (which also has bonobos) is that we have pretty good, warm weather, so the bonobos get to be outside most of the year. We always keep them as close as we can to their real habitat. We pay close attention to the rule that what goes on in mother nature is essential to meeting the apes’ psychological and emotional natures.

For example, with bonobos, they stay with their mothers for years, nursing until they are about five. Then, the males continue to stay with their mothers for life, and it’s the females that leave the group when they are teenagers (around 10 years old) - then, they bond with the females of a new group. This is markedly different from other animal groups, where it’s the male that leaves. As a zoo community, we need to facilitate this natural movement, and we have to do it across zoo lines.

So, back to why Jacksonville is such a great zoo. We work closely with Species Survival Plan (SSP) to manage our bonobos. Many endangered zoo animals are managed by SSPs. They monitor all of the bonobos and help facilitate the survival of the species. They incorporate many factors to do this, including, talking to the IRs (Institutional Representatives) which includes people like me and the actual bonobo handlers at the zoos and direct knowledge of the bonobos’ actual personalities. For instance, you would need to be careful with the move of a super dominate female because she needs to get along with the other females at the new zoo. The SSP also studies the genetics of each animal as well, making sure that new family pairings will create strong baby bonobos, ensuring their survival.

Coming tomorrow: The story of a bonobo arrival at the Jacksonville Zoo…our favorite bonobo story to date!

Delfi also has a wonderful blog where she talks about her amazing work saving bonobos and chimps in Africa and her daily work at the Jacksonville Zoo. You’ll see some great photos of Lucy, Kaleb and the rest of the bonobo crew!

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Our environmental action heroes and one of the recipients of I’m Lucy profits, Roots & Shoots, have just featured I’m Lucy as their book of the month for the Roots & Shoots book club! The announcement was made via their e-newsletter, Branch Out.This e-newsletter goes to 12,000 Roots & Shoots members globally!!! We are thrilled that 12,000 amazing, action-driven and community minded kids, teens and adults will be learning all about Lucy and the plight of the bonobos.

We want to especially thank Dr. Jane Goodall. All of the work she has done and continues to do as an activist, teacher and pioneer inspires and motivates people into action every day. The afterword that she wrote for I’m Lucy adds a critical amount of information and urgency to the struggle of the bonobos and our environment. For her words, her time and her contribution, we are eternally grateful.

The Roots & Shoots program is a nonprofit organization created by Jane Goodall and dedicated to making positive change happen—for our communities, animals and the environment. With tens of thousands of young people in almost 100 countries, the Roots & Shoots network branches out across the globe, connecting youth of all ages who share a common desire to help make our world a better place. This powerful, youth-driven network fosters a fun, flexible and supportive environment where young people and adults come together to share ideas and inspiration, implement successful community service projects and participate in special events and global campaigns.

Visit Roots & Shoots to become a member and get involved today!

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The amazing Tony Fitzpatrick has written a super-wonderful article about I’m Lucy and Bonobo Kids. And while it’s popping up all over the Internet (including several Washington University publications), we thought it should certainly pop up here as well! Tony is a true Bonobo Hero - and he provides Bonobo Kids with yet another shining example of how to use your talents to help the entire world.

Tony writes about a wide variety of topics, specializing in science, technology, environmental and agricultural writing. His stories, articles and essays have appeared in newspapers and magazines nationwide. A former English teacher, college writing instructor and high school coach, he holds degrees from the University of Illinois and Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

His book, Signals from the Heartland, a narrative about people, the environment, ecology and natural history of Illinois and Missouri, was published in 1993 by Walker and Company, New York. It was cited by “Library Journal,” a leading review publication, as one of the best science and technology books for lay readers published in 1993, along with a title by Stephen Jay Gould. Of this book, Kurt Vonnegut commented: “What a relief it is, and how encouraging about America it is, to know of these people who respond to what we have done to our planet without panic and despair, but who devote their lives and their courage and their resourcefulness to modest but fruitful demonstrations of where we can go from here.” More recently, his short story “Country Sleep” was cited by the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada as Honorable Mention for Best Short Story of 2004. Fitzpatrick is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Association of Science Writers and He lives with his wife and two children near St. Louis. He can be reached at tonyfitzp@yahoo.com.

Thank you for these heartfelt words, Tony, and for your contribution to bonobos, kids and our planet.

To read the article in full, please click here.

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On the Bonobo Challenge, we talk a lot about things you can do to help the environment - like turning off lights, recycling and riding your bike to school - but there is another way too! It is so important that all of the products we use in and around our homes are non-toxic, organic, bio-degradable and safe for the environment. So I went searching for a ‘safe for the environment genius’ to give us the low-down, and I was so lucky to find Debra Lynn Dadd.

Hailed as “The Queen of Green” by the New York Times, Debra Lynn Dadd has been a pioneering consumer advocate (which means she tells people helpful information about the products they are buying) since 1982, specializing in products and lifestyle choices that are safer for human health, animals and the environment. She is the author of Home Safe Home which was the first book of its kind and reveals the hazards of common household products and their healthy alternatives. This book is such a powerful resource that it has been in print since 1984!

We were thrilled when Debra wanted to do an interview with us…here is part 1:

Bonobo Kids: Debra you have so much information on the web! Which of your sites do you think the Bonobo Kids would find most useful?
Debra Lynn Dadd: I think that everyone working to save the environment should visit, use and share Debra’s List and the Green Living Q&A blog. Debra’s List gives extensive lists on natural alternatives for everything! Some examples are cleaning products, body care (like lotion or sunscreen), toys, candles and house paint. And when you go to the Q&A blog you can search old questions and answers or ask me and my readers a new question. My readers are the best and they know so much! We always answer as many questions as possible!

BK: How did you get into the world of finding non-toxic items for your home?
DLD: About 27 years ago, I became very sick and didn’t know why. My symptoms were incredibly random. Eventually, I found out that I had something called MCS, or Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, and I was becoming totally disabled. The common treatment for MCS at that time was to give the sick person small amounts of the toxic chemicals that were making them sick.

BK: That seems completely backwards! Why would you want more of what was making you sick!?!
DLD: Exactly! I knew intuitively that ingesting the chemicals was making me feel worse. So, what I did instead was I learned where the toxins were and I removed them all from my life as best I could - starting with my home. There were no resources at the time, so I had to do the research myself. The result was my first book, Home Safe Home. I think it’s lasted for so long because it was the premier book on how to make your home toxic safe.

BK: Can you tell us how the work you do within the home connects to the environment?
DLD: I had this big realization: I can make my home as safe as I want to, but the environment is so polluted! It occurred to me one morning that the environment is supporting my existence, I can’t be alive without the air and rain and other species which means that I’m not separate from the environment, we are all one system, we are all connected. So, if I want to live and be healthy, there has to be an environment to support this. We all have to understand that we live with this truth, and we have to cooperate to make it work. When you start at home, you make a difference - starting with yourself is the place to begin. But, then, you have to continue the work out in the world.

Coming next, Part 2: How Debra Lynn Dadd is saving the environment!!! She is very courageous - just wait until you hear what she’s doing!

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This is amazing…so amazing that I’m reprinting the entire article here - there are too many incredible points!

Thank you, Spain, for this incredible, powerful, trailblazing act. Let’s get the rest of the world to follow - I know the Bonobo Kids will help lead the way!

Spanish Parliament to Extend Rights to Apes

By Martin Roberts

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain’s parliament voiced its support on Wednesday for the rights of great apes to life and freedom in what will apparently be the first time any national legislature has called for such rights for non-humans.

Parliament’s environmental committee approved resolutions urging Spain to comply with the Great Apes Project, devised by scientists and philosophers who say our closest genetic relatives deserve rights hitherto limited to humans.

“This is a historic day in the struggle for animal rights and in defense of our evolutionary comrades, which will doubtless go down in the history of humanity,” said Pedro Pozas, Spanish director of the Great Apes Project.

Spain may be better known abroad for bull-fighting than animal rights but the new measures are the latest move turning once-conservative Spain into a liberal trailblazer.

Spain did not legalize divorce until the 1980s, but Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s Socialist government has legalized gay marriage, reduced the influence of the Catholic Church in education and set up an Equality Ministry.

The new resolutions have cross-party or majority support and are expected to become law and the government is now committed to update the statute book within a year to outlaw harmful experiments on apes in Spain.

“We have no knowledge of great apes being used in experiments in Spain, but there is currently no law preventing that from happening,” Pozas said.

Keeping apes for circuses, television commercials or filming will also be forbidden and breaking the new laws will become an offence under Spain’s penal code.

Keeping an estimated 315 apes in Spanish zoos will not be illegal, but supporters of the bill say conditions will need to improve drastically in 70 percent of establishments to comply with the new law.

Philosophers Peter Singer and Paola Cavalieri founded the Great Ape Project in 1993, arguing that “non-human hominids” like chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and bonobos should enjoy the right to life, freedom and not to be tortured.

(Reporting by Martin Roberts; Editing by Richard Williams)

© Thomson Reuters 2008 All rights reserved

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Photos by: Ullas Karanth, Wildlife Conservation Society

This video from Time Magazine’s website features the conservationist and wildlife biologist, Alan Rabinowitz. Dr. Rabinowitz is the Director for Science and Exploration for the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society. He recently established protected land in Myanmar (Southeast Asia) for tigers. Originally, he asked the Government of Myanmar for 2,500 square-miles, but they asked him to create an 8,452-square-mile (13,602-square-kilometer) tiger reserve in the rain-forested Hukawng Valley! Of course, he said yes.

This is no small task:

• It has taken over ten years to accomplish.
• Fighting groups within the region all had to agree on this common use of the land.
• Discoveries of gold brought thousands of people to the area, literally ripping apart the land with poisons to separate the gold from the earth – these poisons run directly into the river which the tigers drink.
• Similar to the DRC, Myanmar is a dense rainforest without the comforts of home.

Watch this amazing video and be inspired by Dr. Rabinowitz and his passion for saving all wildlife – and see some pretty cool wildlife ‘swing’ through the video!

Note: A good friend and bonobo cohort, Neil Brooks, just told me a wonderful and inspirational story that he heard Dr. Rabinowitz tell and I wanted to share it with you all. Here ’tis: Alan Rabinowitz was a horrible, horrible stutterer as a child and he was put into a class for “slow children:” Stutterers often don’t stutter when they sing or when they talk to animals. He was a terrible singer but loved animals who also could not speak. He promised them that if he ever found a voice he would give that voice to animals.

He certainly has done just that! Thanks for all that you do for the world, Dr. Rabinowitz.

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