(Korea) Monkey Research Institute to Open by End of Year

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http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/culture/200401/kt2004010518375111700.htm

 

Connecting With Our Primate Past

Monkey Research Institute to Open by End of Year

 

By Yoon Ja-young

Staff Reporter

 

Let’s say we have a man, a chimpanzee, and a gorilla

here. If asked to divide them into two groups, what

would you do? Probably most of us would put the

chimpanzee and the gorilla into one category and place

our fellow man alone as the separate being. However,

by scientific criteria, chimpanzees are closer to

humans than to gorillas. Men and chimpanzees share 99

percent of their genes, and this explains why research

on chimpanzees is a crucial to understanding human

beings, according to Choe Jae-chun, professor of

biological science at Seoul National University.

 

Choe is to open the first primate research institute

in the country this year and plans to enhance the

level of primate studies while providing chimpanzees

with good facilities and helping the public understand

and love animals. The plan took shape when Jane

Goodall, the most famous chimpanzee researcher in the

world, visited Korea in 1996. Also known as an

environmentalist, she suggested that she would donate

some wild primates if an institute that provides a

comfortable life for them would be built. Prof.

Tetsuro Matsuzawa of the Primate Research Institute at

Kyoto University, Japan, also promised to help. With a

number of local governments suggesting that the

institute be built in their province, Choe is now in

negotiations about specific terms and details.

 

``If the 20th century was the age of hard science such

as physics and chemistry, the 21st century will be the

age of soft science. The most important area in soft

science is the human brain,’’ Choe said. Research on

primates will help reveal the secret of the human

brain, and that’s why advanced countries have recently

been focusing on primate studies, according to Choe.

The most well-known primate research institutes are

the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

in Germany, the Yerkes National Primate Research

Center of Emory University in the U.S., and the

institute at Kyoto University.

 

Choe says that the Institute of Primate Research and

Conservation (IPRC) will be an institute open to

public, providing totally new types of programs.

Students will have opportunities to participate in the

research at the institute. By filling out an

application on the IPRC Web site, students can observe

primates and their behavior at the institute.

Observations will be put into the computer system, and

the data gathered from each visitor’s observation will

be used for research. Thus, students will have fun and

take pride by contributing to scientific research.

 

A 30-meter-tower, which is twice the height of the one

at Kyoto University, will be built for the

chimpanzees. Considering that the trees in Africa

where wild chimpanzees live are about 30 meters tall,

chimpanzees will feel comfortable only at that

altitude, according to Choe. ``Chimpanzees are in

danger of extinction. Though Dr. Goodall is leading a

chimpanzee protection movement, protecting them in the

wilderness has been difficult. Primatology scholars

suggest that they should be protected in facilities

with good living conditions,’’ Choe added.

 

Not like a zoo which puts animals in a cage, nor like

a research institute which is closed to public, the

IPRC will be a good gift for Korean people who love

nature and science, especially during the year of

monkey. For more information about IPRC, go to

www.iprc.or.kr

 

chizpizza

 

01-05-2004 18:39

 

 

 

 

 

 

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