In a Fight Against Time

On May 10, 1946, primatologist Biruté M. F. Galdikas was born. As scientist, conservationist, and educator, she has made uninterrupted study of and invaluable contributions to the scientific understanding of Indonesia’s biodiversity. The orangutan was a species barely known to science before Galdikas initiated her field project in Tanjung Puting National Park in Borneo in 1971. Orangutans live in the rainforest canopy. There was only one way to observe and study and learn about them – so Galdikas moved into their environment – and brought the orangutan to the world’s attention.

Thanks to her four decades of work in Indonesian Borneo’s rainforests, her studies, scientific publications, books of non-fiction, university residencies, research direction, and international speaking engagements, Galdikas has almost single-handedly built our present knowledge base of these great apes. She has demonstrated that orangutans, like the other great apes, share with humans high cognitive abilities, similar emotions, foresight, excellent memories, and are capable of symbolic communication, innovation, and problem solving.

Galdikas has seen first-hand how great ape populations – gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans – face extinction as their habitat is destroyed, right along with its plants by poaching and loggers. As the foremost protector of orangutans on the planet, she continues to carry her advocacy for orangutans to people around the world using the world wide web.

B Bondar / Real World Content Advantage