Copyright © 2009 NBRP-GAIN. All rights reserved.
Unauthorized use, reproduction, duplication, or citation of any of the images or articles on this website is strictly prohibited.
About GAIN
What is the Great Ape Information Network (GAIN)?
The Great Ape Information Network(GAIN) aims to create a database of high quality and transparency on great apes in Japan. As of 24th Oct., 2010, 335 chimpanzees, 24 gorillas, and 52 orangutans are living in Japan, all of which are valuable for the promotion of science. To understand the evolutionally origin of humans, research on the non-human great apes--the three genera other than the genus Homo--is necessary. Today, all species of great apes are endangered in their natural habitats, so those in Japan are also critically important from a conservation perspective as well.
Our database contains various information concerning all individuals, including personal histories, family trees, genetic traits, and behavioral characteristics. GAIN’s database is a world-leading system regarding the following points.
-
Contains up-to-date information
We provide the latest information with the collaboration of zoos and other facilities in Japan. -
Contains all of the great apes’ records
We document the records of all great apes in Japan, including individuals that have died or were moved. -
Provides a user-friendly system maintained by IT specialists
GAIN’s database allows users to search by facility name, species name, individual name, and so on. Images of the facilities in which great apes are housed are also available through Google tools.
We emphasize the maintenance of productive collaborations between zoos, researchers, and GAIN, with the goal of promoting discussion and creating action-plans for the conservation and welfare of great apes. The GAIN project is also linked to the Support for African/Asian Great Apes (SAGA), which is a consortium concerning great apes that was established in 1998. For details, please visit SAGA’s homepage.
History of GAIN
The GAIN project was initiated in cooperation with the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University as a research project commissioned by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in the fiscal year of 2002. Since the fiscal year of 2009, GAIN has been operating as a grant-in-aid research project in cooperation with the National Institute of Genetics and Kyoto University’s Primate Research Institute (PRI) and Wildlife Research Center (WRC).
