Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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birute galdikas

Honoring Biruté Galdikas

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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.”

Dian Fossey, Jane Goodall, Biruté Galdikas

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.”

A Special Visit and Some Special Ordinary Moments

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There are so many little moments in any given day that we caregivers find endearing or funny or amazing or otherwise noteworthy.

Early this morning, for example, I saw Burrito sampling the grass for the first time this spring. I was overjoyed because I know what’s to come in the next couple of months – the chimpanzees sitting outside and stuffing their mouths with handfuls of grass. It’s one of my favorite times of year. I didn’t get a photo this morning, but you can bet there will be many to come.

At lunch, the chimpanzees had a very exciting visitor: Dr. Birute Galdikas, the famous anthropologist who is for orangutans what Dian Fossy was for gorillas and Jane Goodall is for chimpanzees. These three remarkable women were initially supported in their observational research of great apes by Louis Leakey and they each changed the collective view of our closest living relatives. Dr. Galdikas, nearly fifty years after starting her field research in Borneo, still spends more than half of each year in Indonesia running the field site and directly working to protect orangutans in their native habitat. Much of the rest of her time is spent raising awareness about the perilous situation facing orangutans in the wild and raising funds for Orangutan Foundation International.

Dr. Galdikas spoke last night to students and community members at nearby Central Washington University, thanks to one of the most unique primatology programs in the world. We were so honored that she chose to visit the sanctuary during her brief stay. I think she made a connection with Burrito, which was very sweet.

I neglected to get my own photos of her visit, maybe because I was flustered to be in her presence, but luckily others had their phones at the ready. So, below is a photo from Katelyn of Jake Funkhouser, Dr. Galdikas, and Ruth Linsky. Ruth and Jake are the students who arranged for Dr. Galdikas’ visit to CWU through the Primate Awareness Network.

Later in the afternoon, Anna and I donned some new favorite boots of Jamie’s and took off on a walk around the hill. Missy and Annie came out too and proceeded to twirl and slap and wrestle their way across the hill. Guess what? I didn’t have a camera in hand for those moments either. But, please do take a second to picture it – they were having a great time.

You may be wondering at this point whether I visually captured any part of the day at all to share with you. I did!

Jody was on a mission all day to snack on some of the spruce trees on the hill. I saw her at least three times going back and forth to the “Christmas tree lot” with pieces of tree in her mouth. She looked very satisfied by her foraging