Y&R Melbourne’s junior creatives, Janice Ko and Jack Harrison, are the only Australians based in Australia to make the shortlist of the Gorilla Doctors competition. Judging took place on October 6, as part of the Creative LIAisons program. Judges included Bob Isherwood, Mark Tutssel, Jeremy Craigen, Marcia Goddard, Oliver Fuselier, Anna Fawcett, Kirsten Gilard, Mike Cranfield and Gorilla Doctors.
243 entries were received. Ko and Jackson’s work was one of just nine that made it into the finalist list. So that every entry was given the time it deserved in judging, LIA arranged to have the entries pre-judged by Kirsten Gilardi of Gorilla Doctors and the Health & Wellness and Medical – Craft juries. Gold, Silver and Bronze awards and the winner of the Grand Prize Ecotour trip will be announced on November 5.
The winning individual or team will win an Ecotour donated by Terra Incognito Ecotours to visit Rwanda, home to the critically endangered Mountain Gorillas, and will be invited to participate in Creative LIAisons 2019 or Judge LIA 2019 in Las Vegas.
The competition supports the work of the group of 16 dedicated veterinarians known as Gorilla Doctors. There are currently about 1004 mountain gorillas left on earth. Habitat loss, poaching and disease have made these gorillas one of the most endangered species alive.
Gorilla Doctors also maintains an archive of thousands of high quality biological samples that are made available to researchers around the world. Their research is important to the human health sector, as gorilla and human DNA are almost identical. Moreover, a thriving mountain gorilla population benefits the local communities, other wildlife, and the ecosystems they share.
The Gorilla Doctors finalists are:
View their work here.
Janice Ko and Jack Harrison’s entry is The Gorilla Health Plan:
