2008 Woodie Awards
UTC students going 'ape' over ape
Brittany Shaw
Issue date: 12/1/05 Section: Culture
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These days Chantek, a world-renowned orangutan who lived on the UTC campus in the 1970s, is keeping busy at Zoo Atlanta.
The 27-year-old orangutan spends his days painting, making jewelry with semi-precious stones, using stone tools, crafting the occasional potholder and receiving fan mail from around the world, according to Lyn Miles, professor of anthropology.
What great ape's life would be complete without a jam session with Peter Gabriel and Paul McCartney? Chantek has played with these music icons. But he has other fans, too.
Whoopi Goldberg, Sting, Robin Williams and Leonardo DiCaprio are also among the orangutan's celebrity supporters. With all the attention, Chantek could use an agent, and one from Los Angeles has actually volunteered to represent him. He also participates in several organizations, including the Chantek Foundation and Ape Net.
Chantek and Miles have been featured in more than 20 documentaries, including "They Call Him Chantek" on the Discovery Channel and "When Animals Think" with Joan Lunden.
The dynamic duo has also been featured in articles in Time, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.
This great ape and Miles have made some groundbreaking developments in ape language. After receiving a grant from the UC Foundation, Miles raised Chantek like her own child, and even allowed him to interact on campus.
Like most children Chantek wore diapers, played on the jungle gym and got to steer through the drive-thru window at McDonald's to order his favorite food, a cheeseburger.
His learning process was intense, which is why to date the amazing orangutan knows and understands over 1,000 words in sign language and can actually understand human speech. He has invented his own signs, including referring to orangutans who are incapable of signing as "orange dogs." Occasionally, he even teaches people to sign. And Chantek is still learning.
Miles has the only longitudinal study of this sort to date, and though similar experiments are taking place, no breakthroughs have been as significant as Chantek's. Attempts are being made to create a culture center, where great apes can interact together.
The 27-year-old orangutan spends his days painting, making jewelry with semi-precious stones, using stone tools, crafting the occasional potholder and receiving fan mail from around the world, according to Lyn Miles, professor of anthropology.
What great ape's life would be complete without a jam session with Peter Gabriel and Paul McCartney? Chantek has played with these music icons. But he has other fans, too.
Whoopi Goldberg, Sting, Robin Williams and Leonardo DiCaprio are also among the orangutan's celebrity supporters. With all the attention, Chantek could use an agent, and one from Los Angeles has actually volunteered to represent him. He also participates in several organizations, including the Chantek Foundation and Ape Net.
Chantek and Miles have been featured in more than 20 documentaries, including "They Call Him Chantek" on the Discovery Channel and "When Animals Think" with Joan Lunden.
The dynamic duo has also been featured in articles in Time, The Washington Post, and The New York Times.
This great ape and Miles have made some groundbreaking developments in ape language. After receiving a grant from the UC Foundation, Miles raised Chantek like her own child, and even allowed him to interact on campus.
Like most children Chantek wore diapers, played on the jungle gym and got to steer through the drive-thru window at McDonald's to order his favorite food, a cheeseburger.
His learning process was intense, which is why to date the amazing orangutan knows and understands over 1,000 words in sign language and can actually understand human speech. He has invented his own signs, including referring to orangutans who are incapable of signing as "orange dogs." Occasionally, he even teaches people to sign. And Chantek is still learning.
Miles has the only longitudinal study of this sort to date, and though similar experiments are taking place, no breakthroughs have been as significant as Chantek's. Attempts are being made to create a culture center, where great apes can interact together.
