jeffcrom Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 My wife Karen is heartbroken today. Panbanisha, a bonobo who Karen raised for the first several years of her life, died today at the age of 26 at the Great Ape Trust in Iowa. Karen is a research psychologist and chair of the psych department at Spelman College in Atlanta, but earlier in her career, before I met her, she worked at the Language Research Center, which studies primate language and intelligence. Karen was the primary caregiver for Panbanisha and Panzee, a chimpanzee. She and "the girls" communicated with a symbol board containing several hundred lexigrams. Both Panzee (who is still living at the Language Research Center) and Panbanisha were quite intelligent and were adept at "talking" with humans. Karen visits Panzee every once in a while, but hadn't seen Panbanisha since she moved to Iowa in 2005. Her are some old pictures of Karen and her girls, from 1987 to 1989. Panbanisha is the ape on the right or on top in all the pictures. And in case you're not sure, bonobos are related to chimpanzees; they are now endangered, and they're the species whose DNA most closely resembles that of humans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rostasi Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 Sorry to hear this. What a great name: Panbanisha. "Pan" is the genus, but is there a translation of this full word? Bonobo is a good music project too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffcrom Posted November 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 Sorry to hear this. What a great name: Panbanisha. "Pan" is the genus, but is there a translation of this full word? I'm not sure. I'll ask Karen when she gets home - she's at a meeting in California at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 Sorry to hear of Karen's loss. It's easy to see the caring bond in the photographs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 (edited) Panbanisha Name means "cleave together for the purpose of contrast" in Swahili http://www.greatapet...apes/panbanisha sorry to hear of this loss. Edited November 8, 2012 by JSngry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rostasi Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 Thanks! "Cleave" is one of the contronyms that makes you wonder what the original meaning was for this phrase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffcrom Posted November 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 Panbanisha Name means "cleave together for the purpose of contrast" in Swahili That makes perfect sense. The idea was to raise a chimp and a bonobo together to compare/contrast their language acquisition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffcrom Posted February 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 Another sad day here. Karen's other "girl," Panzee (the chimpanzee in the pictures above) died of complications from diabetes this weekend in Atlanta. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffcrom Posted February 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 http://vimeo.com/8582666 This is Panzee as an adult, interacting with Karen's friend Mike. Karen has pages of the neat, meticulous "writing" you see Panzee doing at the 55 second mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king ubu Posted February 11, 2014 Report Share Posted February 11, 2014 Very insteresting little movie, thanks! And sorry about the loss, must be tough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnblitweiler Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 I'm sorry for Karen's loss. But what fascinating work she does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
page Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 I'm really sorry to hear about this. I can imagine when you work so close with these animals you grow to be friends. Such a smart beautiful animal! I'm very impressed by the work your wife does, must be thrilling to study and work with animals this way. She and her friend Mike must be very upset. Thank you for posting the video and the lovely pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllenLowe Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 sorry, Jeff; incredible thing this story is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbopjazz Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 Sorry, Jeff, it's a sad loss, but what a rewarding job your wife does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted February 13, 2014 Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 Sorry to read of Karen's loss, Jeff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffcrom Posted February 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2014 Just to clarify, Karen is now teaching psychology at Spelman College in Atlanta, and hadn't worked with the girls for several years. She's been exchanging Panzee stories with friends and is adjusting to the loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
page Posted February 14, 2014 Report Share Posted February 14, 2014 Thanks Jeff. Well, that's equal impressive. I can understand exchanging stories helps to deal with the loss. Like I've said I'd imagine becoming friends with animals that way, it is a feeling you'd never loose or forget. I searched for the college. Am I right when I understand it is a college especially for women? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffcrom Posted February 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2014 I searched for the college. Am I right when I understand it is a college especially for women? Yes, Spelman is probably the most highly regarded HBCU (historically black college/university) for women in the U.S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
page Posted February 15, 2014 Report Share Posted February 15, 2014 Ok, thanks. Although I didn't teach in college myself, I'm always interested to hear/learn about what forms of education there are abroad. Interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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