"Cooper: Kanzi and Panbanisha are "superstars in the world of science"

Photo: CNN’s Anderson Cooper visits with Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh during his tour of Great Ape Trust and the bonobo language research program.

The bonobos Kanzi and Panbanisha are going prime-time. The bonobo language research efforts at Great Ape Trust will be featured this week on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 as part of a special program devoted to animal intelligence, "Amazing Animals: Smarter than You Think."

The program is scheduled to air on CNN:

Thursday, November 25: 3 pm ET/2 pm CT and 6 pm ET/5pm CT

Friday, November 26: 10 pm ET/9 pm CT and 11 pm ET/10 pm CT

Saturday November 27: 1 am ET/12 am CT

Cooper previewed the Great Ape Trust segment last week with a video clip and reported that the bonobos Kanzi and Panbanisha are "superstars in the world of science."

The anchor of CNN’s weeknight prime-time news program AC 360 visited Great Ape Trust last month to see firsthand the bonobo language research program in Des Moines. Cooper was introduced to the decades-long research effort by Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh. He also had the opportunity to interact with the bonobos Kanzi, Panbanisha, Nyota and baby Teco.

AC 360 is the latest in high-profile media exposure for Great Ape Trust. Over the past few months, the bonobo research program was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, TIME magazine, USA Today, CNN’s American Morning and Charlie Rose’s program on PBS. In addition, the September literary release of Ape House, by bestselling novelist Sara Gruen, has brought attention to the bonobos and the language research program throughout North America.