Posted by Grant on Mar 1, 2009 in
Grant's Diary
Hoorah! because Monkey Magic hit the shelves in Singapore’s book shops this week.
A happy reader
An exceedingly nice man bought no fewer than 65 copies for his daughter and her friends (she is obviously popular). Monkey Magic goes on sale in Europe, Australia and North America in May. It will also be available on Amazon and other book websites about the same time.
Phew! because my mum read it and thought it was “great!”
Posted by Grant on Feb 5, 2009 in
Grant's Diary
It’s true! If you live in the U.K., you can buy chocolate bars that raise money for orangutans.
The brains behind the idea is businessboy Louis Barnett, who started selling chocs at age 12 when most of us are just thinking about scoffing them.
Louis’ ”Biting Back Bar” looks like this
and tastes amazing apparently. It costs 1.99 pounds — and 10p of that goes to orangutans.
And what about this for a different idea: Louis makes boxes out of chocolate! I don’t care what I get for a birthday present, as long as it’s big and in one of Louis’ boxes.
Posted by Grant on Jan 16, 2009 in
Grant's Diary
Bonnie is one smart cookie.
The 30-year-old orangutan heard a caretaker whistling and thought: “I can do that!”
Scientists at the Great Ape Trust of Iowa say it’s the first recorded case of a primate mimicking the sound made by another species without being trained to (they obviously haven’t heard my gorilla impersonation).
Bonnie Gets Ready to Whistle
You can watch Bonnie, a resident of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C., whistling by clicking on this link.
Check out her amazing “lip flick.” And is that Abba she’s whistling?
Posted by Grant on Dec 21, 2008 in
Grant's Diary
Check out Emily Bland and this one-year-old orangutan called Rishi. They became buddies at The Miami Institute for Endangerd and Rare Species in the USA.
Apparently they struck it off immediately and played for a couple of hours.
Any ideas what Rishi was thinking in this picture? Here are a few guesses:
“Whoa – this girl’s hair is so 1990s.”
“How come she shaved her hands?”
“Don’t look at the camera, Emily!”
“I can never remember – is this left or right?”
“Don’t breath on me! You’re covered in spots.”
Posted by Grant on Dec 2, 2008 in
Grant's Diary
Art lovers, what do you think of this?
Ok so it’s not quite Van Gogh, but this was painted by Knobi – an orangutan. It’s part of the
Great Ape Trust of Iowa‘s annual auction to raise funds for conservation projects.
Last year, they amassed a hefty
$16,725. This year’s masterpieces are subject to bidding now and
can be seen on this link. None of the apes are forced into painting. Here’s another:
Not Bad, eh?
OK, so there was a helping human hand in this one. But the creative impetus came from Knobi. Janey at the San Diego zoo is also a renowned painter. Here she is proudly presenting her work and raising funds for conservation.
Posted by Grant on Dec 1, 2008 in
Grant's Diary
I came across this cool BBC story about orangutans communicating in a way that resembles playing a game of charades.
It got me thinking which charade an orangutan might choose to play. Any suggestions?
Maybe a song. Five Words. Here’s a clue.
“Oo-oo-be-doo…”
I also heard a BBC radio program in which a guest said an orangutan’s worst nightmare would be having to go to a dinner party. Really.
The reason is that orangutans get quite panicky in social situations, apparently.
So if your parents are planning a get-together with friends, tell them to strike Mr and Mrs O off the guest list. Or at least sit them next to that boring couple who say nothing.
Posted by Grant on Nov 3, 2008 in
Grant's Diary
It’s nice to start this diary with two bits of good news, given the gloom that surrounds the future of orangutans.
Sumatra has recently agreed to preserve what is left of its rainforests after years of tearing them down. Let’s hope they can find a way to make the agreement work. Here’s the story
In another development, conservationists have thought of a novel way to stop the destruction of the rainforests in Borneo: buy the rainforest! It’s a shame it has come to this, but what a good idea…more
Oh yes, I promised a bad joke too.
So, have you heard what Prince Caspian’s favourite fruit is?
Banania.
I said it was bad.
