Researcher: Dr. Anne Russon, Department of Psychology, Glendon, York University.
Research Questions: (1) How can studying orangutan ranging behaviour (i.e, travel, habitat use, socializing, and destinations) help us to better understand their adaptation and protect them from extinction? (2) What level of intelligence do orangutans and other great apes have, and how can we assess it from their normal behaviour in the wild?
Methodology: Field work in Indonesia. For four months per year, Dr. Russon and her team arm themselves with paper, pencils, GPS units and mosquito repellant and venture into national parks and conservation areas in the Bornean tropical rainforest to systematically observe the orangutan communities living there.
Results and Conclusions: As Dr. Russon puts it, orangutans are ‘dead smart’. They show innovation, complex social learning and fluid problem solving abilities. For example, orangutans generally cannot swim but a community on one island is learning and has started to catch fish.
Dissemination of Results: Dr. Russon has published numerous scholarly and popular articles and has contributed to several documentaries. She is also editor of two scholarly books on great ape intelligence and author of the popular book Orangutans: Wizards of the Rainforest.
Impact on the Discipline: Dr. Russon is one of the few cognition researchers to study intelligence in the forest (natural environment) rather than in a lab.
Impact on Society and Potential Users: By improving understanding of orangutan ranging patterns and intelligence, it is hoped that governments, industries and local people will be able to develop better conservation plans to help these endangered great apes to survive. Because of the many similarities between orangutans and our own species, studying orangutans also helps us better understand the mental platform from which humans evolved.
Other Involved Parties: Kutai National Park office, Ministry of Forestry, Indonesia; Borneo Orangutan Society of Canada
Key Words: Orangutans, Great Apes, Borneo, Indonesia, Conservation, Cognition, Animal Behaviour