Popi the Orangutan Moves into Great Ape Trust
BY PERRY BERMAN
PHOTO BY RODNEY WHITE / THE REGISTER
Source: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/
First, actor Clint Eastwood came to Winterset to film “Bridges of Madison County.” Now, his orangutan sidekick in a 1980 movie is living in Des Moines.
Popi, 37, who appeared briefly as Eastwood’s pet, Clyde, and as Clyde’s girlfriend in “Any Which Way You Can,” moved to Great Ape Trust of Iowa in southeast Des Moines about five weeks ago, scientists at the research center announced Thursday. That Eastwood comedy was a sequel to “Every Which Way But Loose,” one of his most successful movies.
Through the 1980s and ’90s, Popi headlined a slapstick comedy show at the Stardust in Las Vegas, and, later, in Branson, Mo. She is one of eight orangutans at the ape trust, a research and conservation center, acquired from a California company that provides animals for movies, commercials and TV shows. Two others, 4-year-old Rocky and his 19-year-old mother, Katy, arrived in Des Moines in July.
Advertisement
Popi settled in quickly, and recently emerged from the standard month-long quarantine.
“We’ve been impressed by how smart and gentle she is,” said Robert Shumaker, the trust’s orangutan research director.
Popi’s arrival is a victory of sorts for Shumaker, who has campaigned against the use of apes in TV shows, movies and Vegas acts because trainers often abuse the apes.
“I think as far as ape welfare, this is one of the most important things I’ve been involved with in my career,” Shumaker said of moving the retiring entertainment apes to the Easter Lake-area research campus.
Shumaker declined to comment on whether Popi was abused in the Stardust show — which became the target of public protests over alleged abuse of orangutans. Instead, he emphasized that orangutans were treated well at the Los Angeles-area firm, Steve Martin’s Working Wildlife, that is transferring ownership of the eight entertainment orangutans to the trust. (The firm is not related to the actor/comedian.)
Shumaker said there are few entertainment orangutans left in the business, which makes it all the more important to help close the door on using apes in shows. He noted that people often assume the apes are plentiful when they see them on screen, when in fact they are endangered.
Orangutans are found in the wild only in Borneo and Sumatra. The Sumatran species is down to an estimated 6,000 apes.
Before he began opposing the use of apes in entertainment, Shumaker saw the Stardust show, and Popi, twice while on vacation. “It was wildly successful,” Shumaker said of the show.
Popi becomes the sixth orangutan at the trust, and the oldest. The facility has separate quarters for seven bonobos.
On a sunny and warm afternoon Thursday, Popi mainly took in the view in the outdoor enclosure next to the three-story orangutan building. which also is home to seven bonobos. She likes leafing through catalogs and magazines and is very fond of juices. She immediately welcomed Katy, who shared quarters with her in California, and has mingled with Allie, 14, who was at the trust before the Californians arrived.
Popi will meet the rest of the orangutans — Azy, 30, Knobi, 29, and Rocky, over the next few weeks. The remaining five orangutans are expected to arrive from California by early next year.
March 3rd, 2009 at 2:05 am
[...] who appeared as Clint Eastwood’s pet, Clyde, in the 1980 movie “Any Which Way You Can,” moved to the Great Ape Trust of Iowa in October [...]