Enviro News Asia, Jakarta — Renowned primatologist Biruté Mary Galdikas has passed away in Los Angeles, United States, on Tuesday (24 March) at 4:30 a.m. local time, according to information from the Orangutan Foundation International received by Indonesian Ambassador to the United States, Indroyono Soesilo.
The Indonesian government, through Minister of Forestry Raja Juli Antoni, has coordinated with the Indonesian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and the Consulate General in Los Angeles to arrange the repatriation of her remains to Indonesia. She is expected to be laid to rest in Central Kalimantan, where she devoted more than five decades of her life to orangutan research and conservation.
Galdikas was widely recognized as one of the three pioneering female scientists who dedicated their lives to studying great apes, alongside Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall.
She began her fieldwork in 1971 in Tanjung Puting National Park, a remote forest area at the time. Through decades of continuous observation, she documented key aspects of orangutan behavior, including diet, social structures, reproduction, and habitat use. Her work gained global recognition, including a feature on the cover of National Geographic in 1975.
Her contributions played a significant role in the designation of Tanjung Puting as a national park in 1983 and in strengthening international support for orangutan conservation.
Born in Canada in 1947, Galdikas later became an Indonesian citizen and spent most of her life in Central Kalimantan. Until her final years, she remained committed to protecting orangutans and preserving Indonesia’s tropical forests.
Her passing marks a profound loss for the global conservation community, particularly in efforts to safeguard orangutans, a species increasingly threatened by deforestation and climate change. (*)
