Last month, the world lost Dr. Burité Galdikas, a scientist and conservationist who had studied and worked to protect orangutans starting in her 20s. She was 79 at the time of her death following a battle with lung cancer.
Dr. Galdikas passed away in Los Angeles, but her main home was in Borneo, where today she will be laid to rest.
Orangutan Foundation International, the organization she founded, will be live-streaming her funeral at this link: https://www.youtube.com/live/zH_g7hOs9L4?si=p7Y-cmWsRVvBlw6j
The formal funeral will start around 8:00 p.m. PT / 11:00 p.m. ET. The stream should be available starting around 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time, during which time some semi-ceremonial preparations like the digging of her grave may be shown. OFI shared that there may be some open-casket time during and before the funeral.
Biruté’s contributions to the understanding of orangutans and the perils they are facing in their wild habitats in Borneo and Sumatra and her tireless work to help them, cannot be overstated.
Every profile of Dr. Galdikas mentions her association with Dr. Jane Goodall, who died last year at 91 after decades of non-stop speaking engagements that highlighted chimpanzees and humans’ obligation to protect the natural world, and Dian Fossey, who was killed in Rwanda in 1985 while studying and protecting gorillas. These three influential women were often referred to as “The Trimates.”
We were honored with a visit from Dr. Galdikas exactly eight years ago today, on April 14, 2018.
Here’s a photo that Katelyn took of Dr. Galdikas with then interns Jake Funkhouser and Ruth Linsky, both of whom continue their ape advocacy and conservation work and primatology education by pursuing doctoral degrees, with Ruth working closely with Dr. Galdikas and the orangutans in Borneo.
I’ve read several obituaries since her passing, and this one from The Guardian I particularly liked for it’s depth of information and, especially, for this quote from primatologist Mireya Mayor upon meeting Dr. Galdikas at a wildlife film festival where they were both being honored, “She seemed like someone who had stepped out of the forest temporarily … her heart and mind were still there.”
