Global Gatherings

Primates are found around the globe, and the same is true for the scientists who study them. This week we’re proud to welcome many of these primatologists to Chicago for two conferences highlighting Lincoln Park Zoo’s leadership in understanding our closest cousins.

The first conference, Chimpanzees in Context, opens tonight with welcoming remarks from legendary researcher and conservationist Jane Goodall, Ph.D. Her revolutionary work in Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park transformed our understanding of what animals are capable of, documenting the chimpanzees’ individual personalities, tool use and even conflicts between neighboring troops.

Lincoln Park Zoo’s Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes has long collaborated with Goodall in studying the health and behavior of Gombe’s chimpanzees. Now we’re excited to welcome her, along with nearly 300 other leading researchers from around the globe, to discuss the complexities of this amazing species.

Chimpanzees in Context is the fourth installment of the “Understanding Chimpanzees” series started by Goodall and Paul Heltne in 1986. The meeting welcomes experts from diverse specialties—and field sites around the globe. A grant from the Arcus Foundation enabled five scientists from ape-range countries to present their work: Nigeria’s Umaru Buba, Ph.D., Tanzania’s Deus Mjungu, Ph.D., and Uganda’s Caroline Asiimwe, D.V.M., Emily Otali, Ph.D., and Moreen Uwimbabazi. The conference even includes species beyond chimpanzees, with scientists such as Janet Mann, Ph.D., and Jorg Massen, Ph.D., sharing comparative looks at the complex behaviors of dolphins and birds.

Beyond hosting, Lincoln Park Zoo scientists will take the lead in presenting their own world-class work. These efforts range from voluntary touch-screen and tool-use studies at the zoo’s Regenstein Center for African Apes to field work in the Republic of Congo’s remote Goualougo Triangle, where experts with the Goualougo Triangle Ape Project study and save wild chimpanzees and gorillas in one of the most pristine places on Earth.

Zoo scientists with the Goualougo Triangle Ape Project study ape behavior and the impact of nearby logging in this pristine ecosystem in the Republic of Congo.

Lincoln Park Zoo science will continue to be in the spotlight the following week as the Fisher Center hosts the 26th Congress of the International Primatological Society and the 39th Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists. This joint meeting, held at Navy Pier, will welcome more than 1,400 experts from around the globe to discuss primate species from aye-aye to white-cheeked gibbons.

This is the first time a zoo has ever hosted this prestigious meeting—the largest primatology meeting in history. This honor reflects the expertise of our scientists as well as Lincoln Park Zoo’s leadership in advancing primate understanding and welfare. Indeed, Fisher Center Director Steve Ross, Ph.D., and Assistant Director Lydia Hopper, Ph.D., serve on the care committees of the two organizations, finding ways to improve primate well-being.

Non-ape primates are part of Lincoln Park Zoo’s voluntary research program as well, as seen with this snow monkey at the touch-screen at Regenstein Macaque Forest.

But the honor also reflects Lincoln Park Zoo’s commitment to conservation and science. Chicago’s free zoo has one of the largest zoo-based research teams in the country, with dozens of experts leading the way in areas ranging from population planning to measuring hormones to monitor animal well-being. Science is at the core of what we do, and we’ll always welcome the opportunity to share that message with the world.

Kevin Bell

Learn More

Chimpanzee Tool Use on Camera
Dozens of “camera traps” in the Republic of Congo’s remote Goualougo Triangle let zoo scientists record how chimpanzees use tools in the wild. It’s one of the many ways the zoo’s Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes is helping us understand our closest cousins.

Gorilla Gamers
For some Lincoln Park Zoo apes, including gorilla Azizi, sequencing objects is old news. Fisher Center Director Steve Ross, Ph.D., explains how the next step tests their memory—and reveals more about how gorillas and chimpanzees think.