US EditionBiruté Galdikas's life with orangutans—and the iconic story that helped change their fate
Galdikas founded the Orangutan Foundation International and helped rehabilitate 450 orangutans, advancing conservation and scientific knowledge over nearly 50 years.
- On Tuesday, Canadian scientist Birut Galdikas died in Los Angeles at age 79 following a battle with lung cancer, according to the Orangutan Foundation International, which she founded in 1986.
- Known as one of the "Trimates," Galdikas spent nearly 50 years studying orangutans in the wild, establishing a research base in Indonesian Borneo in 1971 to conduct one of the longest-running field studies of any wild mammal.
- Her dedication yielded significant scientific insights: she recorded 400 types of food consumed by apes and discovered they give birth every 7.7 years, while her rehabilitation centre helped 450 captive orangutans return to the wild.
- Anna Rathmann, executive director of the Jane Goodall Institute USA, wrote Wednesday that Galdikas was "steadfast in her dedication" to wild orangutans and their rainforest habitat, calling her work an "unwavering dedication."
- Survived by three children, Galdikas leaves a legacy of conservation advocacy, having worked to protect habitat under growing economic pressure while pioneering efforts in the Indonesian rainforest.
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15 Articles
Canadian primatologist Birute Galdikas died on Tuesday at the age of 79. She devoted her life to the study and defence of orangutans.
The Lithuanian-Canadian primatologist and anthropologist, a world leader in the study and conservation of orangutans, died this Tuesday after more than five decades of work in the Borneo forest. She was the last member of the 'trimates', the group of scientists who transformed modern primatology.
Conservation news
ecotopical.comBirutė Galdikas, primatologist who spent a lifetime studying & defending orangutans, has died at 79
In the early 1970s, orangutans occupied an ambiguous place in science. They were known to exist, of course, but remained poorly understood, rarely observed, and difficult to study in the wild. Their forest habitat in Borneo and Sumatra was still vast, though already beginning to change. Logging roads were extending into areas that had long resisted access. The outlines of a larger problem were visible, even if its scale was not yet clear. At the…
Birute Goldikas (80), a world-renowned zoologist and anthropologist who spent over half a century closely observing orangutans in the Indonesian jungles and revealing their veiled ecology to the world, passed away on the 24th in Los Angeles, California, due to a chronic lung disease. The International Orangutan Foundation, which she founded and led, announced the news of her passing on the 25th, stating, “She inspired countless people with the m…
Biruté Galdikas's life with orangutans—and the iconic story that helped change their fate
Biruté Galdikas was the third of the so-called Trimates, alongside Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall. She spent thousands of hours in the jungles of Borneo for the first long-term study of orangutans. Her findings changed how we saw these incredible animals, and made for one of National Geographic’s most iconic covers.
Canadian orangutan scientist Biruté Galdikas was the last of the 'trimates'
Biruté Mary Galdikas, a Canadian scientist who dedicated her life to the study and conservation of orangutans, has died. She was the last living member of the renowned primatologists known as "trimates," alongside Jane Goodall and Diane Fossey.
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