Did you know that orangutans are the only great apes of Asia, found in Southeast Asia on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra? And that they are remarkably similar to humans in terms of anatomy, physiology, and behavior? Like the other great apes, orangutans are highly intelligent, displaying advanced tool use and distinct cultural patterns in the wild. Orangutans share approximately 97% of their DNA with humans. And prior to this speaker's field study, scientists knew little about this species.
It was an early experience at the age of six with the unruly monkey in the book, Curious George, that by the second grade Dr. Biruté Mary Galdikas had decided what her life's work would be. Although she probably didn't know then that she would become the world's foremost authority on the orangutan. She has studied and worked closely with the orangutans of Indonesian Borneo in their natural habitat for the last four decades.
While a graduate student at UCLA, she met famed Kenyan paleontologist Louis Leakey and expressed her desire to study orangutans in their natural habitats. Athough Dr. Leakey seemed disinterested at first, Dr. Galdikas persuaded him of her passion. After three years, Dr. Leakey finally found the funding for her orangutan studies, as he had previously done with both Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey for their respective studies on chimpanzees and mountain gorillas.
In 1971, Dr. Galdikas arrived in one of the world's last wild places, Tanjung Puting Reserve in Borneo. Despite rustic conditions and skepticism that she would not be able to study orangutans in the wild because they were too elusive and wary, living almost entirely in deep swamps, she moved forward with her study. She set up Camp Leakey and began documenting the ecology and behavior of the wild orangutans. Her hard work eventually paid off; four years later she wrote the cover article for National Geographic Magazine, bringing orangutans widespread international public attention for the first time. Today, Camp Leakey is the site of the longest continuous study on any primate.
Dr. Galdikas has lectured extensively on the orangutans and their tropical rain forest habitat to thousands of people and numerous institutions in Indonesia and throughout the world. Her dedication not only to understand the nature of the orangutan but also to preserve the creature's rapidly diminishing natural habitat due to illegal logging and mining interests which is threatening extinction.
Dr. Galdikas is the founder of Orangutan Foundation International. You can read more about her at http://www.orangutan.org.
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TEDxYouth@Castilleja - DR TYRONE HAYESby TEDxYouth710 views
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