Thinking Outside the Box (or Going Ape)
Yesterday we featured a story about gorillas. Today we want to give equal time to orangutans.
At first glance, it seemed like a simple story. A baby orangutan battered by his mother in a Colorado zoo was moved to a surrogate mother in the Milwaukee County Zoo. But in the hands of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Jan Uebelherr, editor Mark Katches and other innovative thinkers at the Journal Sentinel, "Ambassador Mahal" became much more. Here Katches outlines the project and describes some of the creative work that went into it.
The online package at www.jsonline.com/mahal includes video, slideshows, orangutan sounds and interactive graphics from Enrique Rodriguez. Interactive guru Bill Schulz set up a camera outside Mahal's enclosure. We call it our "Good Morning, Mahal Cam." The camera is on 24/7, but the best viewing times are in the morning, when Mahal wakes and is feeling playful. We also have downloadable desktop wallpaper featuring Mahal.
My favorite bonus features online are part of the "Children's Nook" on the Mahal series page put together by Web producer Alison Fonte.
The nook includes a wonderful coloring page created by graphics editor Lou Saldivar, a drawing contest for kids and a children's book version of Mahal's story that Jan and I co-wrote. The book is titled "Little Mahal and the Big Search for a Real Mom."
Did I mention that we're having fun with this?
http://www.jsonline.com/mahal
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=769486