Chimp Business

Alfred E. Parker, second director of the Lincoln Park Zoo from 1919-1931, standing next to a chimpanzee in 1927. Courtesy of Chicago Daily News negatives collection, DN-0084027, Chicago Hi

Friday, March 21st, 2008--

Put a chimpanzee in clothes and people get the wrong idea , a paper in Science suggests. A survey conducted at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, IL found that only 66 percent of zoo-goers believe chimps are endangered, but over 90 percent of visitors believe orangutans and gorillas are endangered. All three primates are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)--a global environmental network. The most common reason people gave for why they did not think chimps were in trouble is that they saw chimps on television, in advertisements and in movies. The study was replicated at the Great Ape Trust of Iowa in Des Moines with similar results.

The global chimp population is estimated at about 200,000 individuals. "But it wasn't long ago, 50, 60, 70 years ago, that there were well over 1 million and maybe even close to 2 million individuals. The drop-off for chimpanzee populations has been huge," says Steven Ross, supervisor of behavioral and cognitive research at Lester Fisher Center for Study and Conservation of Apes at the Lincoln Park Zoo, and lead author of the study.

The perception of orangutans was much more accurate--despite the fact that orangutans too are used in the entertainment industry. "I actually think that's one of the most interesting findings of this study... the effect doesn't seem to be there for orangutans like it does for chimpanzees," Ross says. Ross thinks this may be related to the fact that adult orangutans look quite different than young orangutans, which are the ones primarily used in commercials and movies.

Or the perception difference may be because chimps look more like us, said Kristen Lukas, the curator of conservation and science at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in Ohio and a co-author on the study. "I think people remember and relate to chimpanzees perhaps a little bit more strongly because the resemblance is a little more immediate than with the orange orangs."

In fact, the relatability of chimpanzees may be why they are effective in advertisements, according to Mark Schupp, owner of Schupp Company, a marketing and advertising firm in St. Louis, MO. "My theory is that animals that are personified, in some fashion, are more effective. Meaning, animals doing things people do make for an entertaining spot," Schupp says in an email.

It's not just the entertainment industry that uses chimps--Science magazine ran a campaign featuring a chimp wearing a hat reading the journal. Science removed the advertisement after complaints from Ross and colleagues that the ad was exploitative.

"It was a very sobering reminder that our educational efforts are not just to the common man on the street but also within our own community," Ross says.

--Flora Lichtman

Sources

Steve Ross
Chair of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association’s Chimpanzee Species Survival Plan Lester E. Fisher Center for the Conservation of Apes Lincoln Park Zoo Chicago, IL

Kristen Lukas
Curator of Conservation and Science Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Cleveland, Ohio Adjunct Assistant Professor of Biology Case Western Reserve University

Mark Schupp
Owner Schupp Company St. Louis, MO