Thursday, May 3, 2012

Fongoli chimps featured in BBC documentary

The Fongoli chimpanzees were recently featured in a BBC documentary series called "How to Grow a Planet". Episode 3 is entitled "The Challenger" and is all about grasses. Since the Fongoli chimpanzees live in a savanna habitat where the predominant vegetation is grass, they are featured in this episode that talks about the influence that grasslands had on the evolution of our own species. You can see a film clip from the documentary, which aired in the U.K. in April here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3845rTBBEyw&feature=youtu.be
(Image of Fongoli female chimpanzee 'Nickel' courtesy of the BBC)

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Neighbor Ape earns permanent spot on Global Giving website!

Neighbor Ape organization rose to the challenge and - with your help! - raised enough money to meet Global Giving's April Challenge! We raised over $4,000 ($4,230 to be exact!) from over 50 unique donors (62 actually!) to earn the right to partner with Global Giving! The amount we raised in the April Challenge will allow us to pay for expenses for conservation education workshops in 14 different villages, to fund 18 village children for one school year in Kedougou or Tambacounda and to fund a nursing student in Dakar for one full year! Global Giving works with grassroots organizations to do good around the world! Please check out our page on their site! (Photo above of children of Djendji village in their classroom. Neighbor Ape has been able to donate a year's worth of school supplies to Djendji for two years now!) http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/conserving-senegals-chimpanzees-through-education/
Photo of Fongoli chimpanzee female "Tumbo", courtesy of Joshua Marshack.