This is the first newsletter of the Ape Ambassadors!

1. The
PAPERAPEThe Ape Ambassadors Newsletter
Issue1 SPRING 2015
A Club for
Kids and
Teens!
Making a
Difference
Ape Ambassadors is a club for kids and
teens. While the focus of the club is raising
awareness and funds for the Center for
Great Apes, the goal is to helps kids and
adults realize the power of young people.
Kids are amazing and can do great things.
They are key to improving their community,
their city, state, and beyond. Whether
it’s picking up litter or raising funds for a
cause, Ape Ambassadors want to make a
difference.
The Center for Great Apes, a non-profit
sanctuary for orangutans and chimpanzees,
was founded in Miami and is now located on
120-acres in Central Florida. The sanctuary
has earned the coveted
Charity Navigator’s
4-star rating and it is
the only orangutan
sanctuary in North
America.
Learn more about the
sanctuary at www.CenterforGreatApes.org.
Adopt
an Ape…
Birthday
Parties!
Make
lemonade…
Meeting in
Miami…
One Ape Ambassador
“adopted” Kiki, an ape at
the sanctuary who shares
her nickname.
Tommy (far right) asks
for items from the
sanctuary’s wish list
instead of birthday
presents.
Adrian, Mia and Scout
set-up a lemonade
stand and raised $90
for the Great Apes!
Kids from five different
schools in Miami
met to discuss ways
to be effective Ape
Ambassadors. Some
suggestions are at the
top of this newsletter!
US US US
LIKE FOLLOW JOINfacebook.com/
ApeAmbassadors
twitter.com/
ApeAmbassadors
www.
ApeAmbassadors.com

2. Spread
the Word
Balancing Act Spice of Life
Palm oil, found in shampoo, chips,
cookies, detergent, and even make-
up, is linked to issues such as
deforestation and animal cruelty in
countries where land is being cleared
to develop palm oil plantations.
According to the World Wildlife Fund,
an area the size of 300 football fields
of rainforest is cleared each hour to
make way for palm oil production.
This large-scale deforestation is
pushing many species to extinction.
If nothing changes species like the
orangutan could become extinct in the
wild within the next 5-10 years, and
Sumatran tigers less than 3 years.
Kellogg’s has become the first major
American company to commit to
transitioning to deforestation-free
palm oil supply chains by 2015! Last
August Madison and Rhiannon of
ProjectOrangs delivered over 115,000
petitions in partnership with SumOfUs
urging the company to eliminate its
connection to the destruction of real
“Tony the Tiger” rainforest habitat for
palm oil plantations.
Kellogg’s owns Little Brownie Bakers,
one of the two Girl Scout cookie
bakeries. This means half of Girl Scout
cookies will soon be rainforest-safe.
Hopefully ABC Bakers will soon follow
Kellogg’s lead and ensure that the
palm oil they source for Girl Scout
cookies will also be produced under
these same rigorous guidelines.
Sources:
www.saynotopalmoil.com www.Projectorangs.org
Photo: Mongabay.com
Kid PowerTwo Teens’ Mission To Save
Orangutans and How You Can Help
In 2007 Madison Vorva and Rhiannon
Tomtishen wanted to earn their Girl Scout
Bronze Award. They focused on orangutans
and found that their rainforests were
being destroyed in order to plant palm
oil plantations. Even worse, they realized
palm oil is in Girl Scout cookies. So - at
age 11- they launched ProjectORANGS to
make Girl Scout cookies rainforest-safe. It
took a lot of letters, emails and partnering
with groups and fellow Girl Scouts, and in
2011, Girl Scouts USA announced a palm
oil policy. Unfortunately, Madi and Rhia
report that this policy does not do enough.
The GreenPalm “sustainability” logo on Girl
Scout cookie boxes is misleading because
the certification, created by the Roundtable
Apes are incredibly
intelligent. Although
chimps can’t read,
enrichment is a very
important part of the
care they receive at
the Center for Great
Apes. They are given
different activities,
tools and treats to
keep them happy.
At CGA, the apes eat three meals a day of
fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains,
and “primate biscuits” (thick, granola
bar-looking biscuits that have additional
vitamins, minerals, and protein needed for
their diets ). No cookies for them!
on Sustainable Palm Oil, has been criticized
as not being really sustainable and because
there are issues with forced and child labor.
Want to help? Madi and Rhia suggest that
if you see a product with palm oil, write
the company that makes the product and
ask them to change to an alternative oil
or adopt truly deforestation-free palm oil
policy.
Contact GSUSA
Girl Scouts of the USA
420 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10018-2798
facebook.com/GirlScoutsUSA
Photo: Joe Zammit-Lucia

3. HowApe Ambassadors
can make a difference
What Ape Ambassadors do to make
a difference is up to them (and their
guardians, of course). We are open to
ideas and suggestions and would like
to feature an idea in every newsletter.
One Ambassador suggestion is to write
the band One Direction asking them to
never use animals in videos again. The
band used a chimpanzee in the video
“Steal My Girl.” With today’s computer
generated imagery (CGI), there’s no
need to exploit animals. In the movie
Dawn of the Planet Apes, the animals
were created using CGI. Andy Serkis,
Karin Konoval and other actors wore
special gear allowing CGI to map their
movements and digitally turn them into
chimpanzees and orangutans.
Before their rescue, many of the
apes had been stuck in cages far
too small for their large bodies,
making it impossible for them to
stretch or swing. At the Center
for Great Apes, the habitats are
huge domed or barn-shaped
structures connected with a
winding maze of chutes and
walkways through the treetops
allowing the apes to explore and
even go visit the clinic for routine
check-ups. Inside the habitats are
toys and swings, where the apes
spend their days playing, eating,
and napping. The apes also have
concrete, temperature controlled
night houses where they go to
sleep, relax or escape the weather.
The award-winning designs have
inspired zoos and sanctuaries to
replicate similar structures at
their locations.
Did You Know?
Chimpanzees have emotions just like
humans including pleasure, depression,
anxiety, pain, distress, empathy and grief.
source: janegoodall.org/chimps-GAPA-fact-sheet
Ape Ambassadors can also help by
bringing a friend on a member or
Ape Ambassador visit day. Seeing
the sanctuary and meeting the
caretakers, staff, volunteers and
other donors and of course - the
apes - really is incredible.
The sanctuary, which focuses on
caring for its 15 orangutans and
30 chimpanzees, is not open to
the public. There are only a few
special days when visitors are
allowed. Be sure to visit on those
days! Any other visit after that
requires special coordination and
a donation of $300 for up to 10
guests.
The view
from
Above

4. UU
US
JOIN www.
ApeAmbassadors.com
Become an
Ape Ambassador
Hotel helps
support apes…
www.ApeAmbassadors.com
facebook.com/ApeAmbassadors
Learn more about the sanctuary:
www.centerforgreatapes.org
Lemon Tree Inn of Naples, Florida
donates $10 to the Center for Great Apes
when guests use the code APE when they
book online at www.LemonTreeInn.com
Picture this: chimpanzees banging and
throwing things, pushing toys around.
Would you think that is annoying? Not
I. Those sounds of chimps playing filled
my heart with luminous thoughts warm
enough to melt butter. At this time I
realized how wonderful chimps really
are.
There are two species of apes at the
Center for Great Apes (CGA). One is
the more rowdy group, the chimps.
Chimpanzees have black hair (not fur)
and are the closest animal to humans.
Chimps walk on all fours, but they can
walk on their hind legs as well. They are
also very intelligent. Many of them know
some human traits like sign language.
All of them have different personalities.
Denyse won’t sit at the bottom of her
enclosure, she only sits up high so she
can see all her neighbor chimps.
The second species of apes at CGA are
orangutans. These primates have long,
red hair, and also walk on all fours.
They also can walk on their
two back legs. Orangutans
are stronger and heavier
than chimps. And at CGA, I noticed the
orangutans were calmer. One of the
people on the sanctuary tour remarked
that it looked like Pongo, an orangutan,
was trying to impress her. That
statement lead me to inference the apes
enjoyed our visit.
Well you may ask, how did these
wonderful animals get here in the first
place? They were in medical research
labs, entertainment, and were pets. It
makes me very sad that these apes were
treated unfairly, but luckily CGA rescued
them. Since CGA is nonprofit, they need
money, and we need to raise money for
the apes for food, toys and enrichment.
I learned that apes are fascinating
creatures, and that they are my favorite
animal. I learned that chimpanzees and
orangutans very much need help, and
they need a safe place to
call home.
Help the Center
for Great Apes.
The apes will
thank you.
My First Visit Change for
Chimpanzees
Educator Zowe Renteria found an easy
way to raise funds for the Center for
Great Apes. She took a paint can (you
can use an old one or buy a new, empty
one from Home Depot) and taped a label
on it (see below). Her students have
helped raise both money and awareness
for the Center for Great Apes.
Last year at Alexander Montessori
School in Miami, 1st thru 3rd grade
students in Rooms 7 and 8 raised more
than $300 by donating
change on Fridays.
They are doing it
again this year and
will see in May
how much they
raised for CGA.
A little bit adds
up and goes a long
way!
Art
Contest
Art4Apes is an annual online
art contest benefitting CGA.
And kids can enter!
Visit Art4Apes.com
By Austin Bennett, Age 11, American Heritage School
Austin (left), with his
brother Jacob and CGA
educator Lauren.