ACTION ALERT

Chimpanzee Exploited in Oprah Magazine
February 25, 2008

In the January 2008 issue of Oprah Magazine, a story titled "Love, The Great Adventure" featured photographs of a young chimpanzee “actor” named Louie.  Louie was also pictured posing with the photographer, Jonathan Barkat, in the magazine’s Table of Contents.   

What you can do:

Please contact Oprah Magazine and express your disappointment in their choice to exploit an endangered species.  Send a letter and/or email using the contact info below: 

O, The Oprah Magazine
Editorial Offices
300 West 57th St.
36th Fl.
New York, NY 10019
letters@hearst.com

You can also email the photographer, Jonathan Barkat.

* If you send an email, please copy Primate Patrol at primatepatrol@chimpsanctuarynw.org for tracking purposes. 

Sample Letter/Email

Dear Oprah Magazine, 

I was saddened and disappointed to see a young chimpanzee exploited in the January 2008 issue of your magazine.  Chimpanzee “actors” are taken away from their mothers at birth, causing irreparable psychological harm.  Training methods are physically and psychologically abusive, and “retirement” at age 6 or 7 usually means being cast off to roadside zoos or other substandard facilities.

Further, using chimpanzees for entertainment purposes sends terrible messages to the public – including the misconceptions that chimpanzees are not an endangered species and that chimpanzees make good pets (which couldn’t be further from the truth).  Both of these fallacies continue to exist because of the prevalence of chimpanzee “actors” in media. 

Please make the responsible decision never to exploit great apes in your publication again. I look forward to hearing from you on this urgent matter.

Sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]

 

 

 

 

 

Updated: October 22, 2007