Dr. Biruté Galdikas, Educator, Conservationist, and Expert in Orangutans

Dr. Biruté Galdikas (Image Source: Orangutan Foundation International Australia)

Dr. Biruté Mary Galdikas is a renowned educator, conservationist, and expert in organutans.  She is considered one of the top three primatologists in the world, alongside Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey, but she does not have the same notoriety or global presence as these women.  The reason: Dr. Galdikas spends most of her time studying, preserving, and as available rehabilitating the primates she knows and loves.  This blog post will discuss Dr. Galdikas’s life and work, focusing on her contributions to better understanding and working toward saving orangutan species.

 

Dr. Biruté Mary Galdikas was born in Germany to Lithuanian parents.  Her birth occurred while they were immigrating to Canada, which is why Galdikas was ultimately raised in Toronto, Canada.  As a young child she discovered her passions for exploration, discovery, and primates.  She credits checking out a Curious George book from her local library as inspiring her love of primates.  She ultimately pursued studies in psychology and zoology for her undergraduate degrees. 

 

When her family moved to the United States she enrolled in graduate programs in anthropology at the University of California-Los Angeles.  This is when she met Dr. Louis Leakey, who had just funded primate research of Jane Goodall, who studies chimpanzees, and Dian Fossey, who worked with gorillas.  Galdikas explained to Leakey that she wanted to study orangutans, but Leakey was hesitant to sign off on funding such a project.  This was because orangutans were poorly understood due to a lack of significant study.  This led many to inaccurately conclude that orangutans were aloof, solitary creatures that were impossible to study, thereby warranting little need to do so. 

 

Galdikas was not deterred, however.  Her determination to study orangutans led Leakey to fund her research in 1971.  She established her research base, which she named Camp Leakey in honor of the funding she received, in Borneo.  She immediately went to work studying wild orangutans, and her discoveries revolutionized studies of orangutans.  She was the first to document that orangutans consumed fruits, eventually documenting over 400 different fruits they will consume.  She also was the first to observe the extended birth interval of orangutans, as well as the gregarious nature of mother-child interactions.  She identified it was the males who were largely solitary, not the females who would often stay with their female relations throughout their lifetimes. 

 

All of this brought much needed attention to orangutan species, who were already facing serious conservation issues related to deforestation and the illegal pet trade.  Galdikas observed these issues, and she used her position to create a platform for voicing their concerns not just to the Indonesian government but to the world.  Her efforts were not widely accepted as she received threats, was harassed, and even kidnapped once.  Again, she was undaunted and continued her efforts to save and preserve orangutan species.  In 1986 she started the Orangutan Foundation International in part to spread awareness about the need to save these species.  This organization also provided rehabilitation programs for orphaned and captured orangutans.  It was not without controversy.  Because kidnapped orangutans experienced significant trauma at an early age they were prone to lashing out at staff and guests at the rehabilitation center, causing many to question whether such efforts were worthwhile.  Ultimately, the program successfully rehabilitated and released over 500 wild-born but kidnapped orangutans back into their natural habitats. 

 

The Orangutan Foundation International has also been instrumental in raising the funds necessary to purchase lands and preserve the orangutans’ habitat.  Galdikas and her team has also used the funds to employ local residents to help in conservation and preservation efforts.  Because Indonesia has a significantly high unemployment rate many Indonesians do what is necessary to survive, including engaging in dangerous and illegal activities (e.g., illegal poaching of orangutans and logging their habitats).  By providing Indonesians legitimate means of employment the Foundation has been instrumental in providing a resource to the local people while also serving its mission in saving orangutans.

 

It is these and various other efforts and initiatives that Galdikas has been involved in that has earned her various awards over her lifetime.  In 1997 she received Indonesia’s highest honor for environmental leadership: the Hero for the Earth Award.  She remains the only non-Indonesian to earn this award (although she has since applied for and received Indonesian citizenship) and one of the first women to win the award. 

 

Galdikas, however, is not about the fame and the awards.  She continues to concentrate her efforts in what she loves: studying and saving orangutans.  She does not seek the spotlight unless it is to serve that purpose.  She has almost 50 years of experience doing what she loves, and she has no intention of stopping any time soon.  This is in part because her work remains incomplete, but her efforts have done a lot to mitigate the loss of these amazing primates.  Hopefully, she will see the fruits of her labors within her lifetime, but she continues to train and inspire students around the world to help her with her work-be it in scholarship or applied conservation.

 

Bibliography

McNeill, H. (n.d.). Biruté Galdikas is a famous primatologist that you’ve probably never heard of . CBC.

Orangutan Foundation International Australia. (2024). Dr. Birute Mary Galdikas. Retrieved from Orangutan Foundation International Australia: https://orangutanfoundation.org.au/our-staff/dr-birute-mary-galdikas/

PBS. (2015, February 13). Pioneering Primatologist. Retrieved from Nature, PBS: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/orphan-king-pioneering-primatologist/11410/

Simon Frasier University. (2024). Birute Galdikas. Retrieved from Simon Frasier University: https://www.sfu.ca/archaeology/about/people/faculty/bgaldikas.html