A tribute to Birutè Galdikas

Birutė Galdikas was from a Lithuanian farming family who fled their country around World War II to seek refuge in Germany, then Canada. She would become one of the first scientists to study orangutans in depth. Her work on behavior, natural habitat, and diet helped shed great light on this great ape species.

In 1971, she established an orangutan observation center in Tanjung Puting National Park, Indonesia. She helped create and implement many research and conservation projects dedicated to these animals. In 1986, she founded the Orangutan Foundation International, active in the United States, Indonesia, Australia, Canada, as well as the United Kingdom. An emblematic figure in global conservation, Birutė Galdikas devoted nearly 55 years of her life to studying and protecting orangutans in their tropical forest habitat. She inspired millions, spreading her message that humanity is an integral part of nature, and that protecting it is essential to our own survival.

Birutė Galdikas’ passing signifies the end of an era: she was the last of the “Trimates,” also called “Leakey’s Angels,” a group of pioneers she formed with fellow researchers Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey, who studied chimpanzees and gorillas respectively. Under the guidance and support of paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey, these three women greatly contributed to our understanding of these species the closest to humans in the animal kingdom and, through them, of ourselves. Birutė Galdikas will live on in memory for her remarkable determination and her passion for protecting the only great ape in Asia, the orangutan. She often highlighted how close they are to our ancestors having never left their “Garden of Eden” (the title of her book): their tropical forest.

Her actions in Indonesia involved and supported hundreds of people, most of them from local Indigenous communities, who, in collaboration with the Indonesian forestry department, continue her work in orangutan rehabilitation, research, and forest protection. Her legacy continues through her organization, the Orangutan Foundation International (OFI), as well as a recently created Indonesian foundation, led by her son, Frederick Bohap Galdikas, who is carrying forward this essential mission. In the heart of Borneo’s tropical forests, after half a century spent observing orangutans in their natural habitat, Birutė Galdikas wished to share a message she considered essential: “Without spirituality, research can never succeed.”

Written by La Société Francophone de Primatologie

Photo credit: Vytautas Magnus University’s website