The Philadelphia web gurus at I-Site would like to introduce you to Jeshi. Jeshi is on Facebook and has over 600 followers on Twitter. But, while Jeshi is very good with people and very personable with trainers, it would be hard to visit her in person. Jeshi is a gorilla in the Kabirzi family, living at the Virunga National Park in Africas Democratic Republic of Congo. So until you have updated your passport and your travel fund, I-Site has made it possible for you to check in with gorillas just like Jeshi from your computer or cell phone.
Working from an old toy store producing apps for everything from scooters to analgesics, I-Site created iGorilla, a social network that connects interested wildlife buffs, zoologists and aspiring naturalists with Gorilla researchers at Virunga. Africas oldest national park, Virunga is an area in constant peril from poachers and miners in search of charcoal. After visiting the park on a leadership conference, I-Site CEO Ian Cross knew something had to be done.
We knew we wanted to help support the park because, while you do pay to see the gorillas there, it just seems a little voyeuristic when you go and see them because you are taken there as a tourist and you just know there is so much more going on behind the scenes, says Cross. One of the things that really struck me was we had an armed guard following us. And I wasnt sure if he was there to protect the gorillas or to protect us but he was there.
If this sounds like a Sally Struthers commercial for Gorillas, its because apps like iGorilla have become the next generation in fundraising. Selling from the Apple Store for $3.99, I-Site is donating 70 percent of the proceeds to Virunga.
After being featured in major news outlets like the BBC, purchases
of the app have skyrocketed, allowing I-Site to explore a more cohesive social
network.The mobile application puts all gorilla research right on your phone, allowing you to follow the lives of individual gorillas and gorilla families. But the creators are working towards a synergistic approach that would link iGorilla through more commonly used social networks, plugging this foreign world right into the Internet conversation.
We are creating a community here, says Cross. As this evolves, we want that connection between the people who are concerned about what is happening there and the gorillas. And that comes through social networking.
Source: Ian Cross, I-Site
Writer: John Steele