Planet earth is currently home to seven billion people . In comparison, the approximately 60,000 orangutans remaining in the wild represent an exceedingly small number. Despite this 140,000-fold difference in current population size, analysis of the orangutan genome yields a surprising discovery: orangutans are much more genetically diverse than humans.
Author: Susanne Kassube
Orangutan genome (part 1): The quest for Leakey’s ancestral great ape
Louis Leakey was a Kenyan paleoanthropologist who devoted his life to uncovering the early phases of human evolution. Using the scientific tools available at the time, he set out to study hominid fossils in Olduvai Gorge, a ravine in the Great Rift Valley in eastern Africa. His discoveries proved that humans originally evolved in Africa,… Continue reading Orangutan genome (part 1): The quest for Leakey’s ancestral great ape
Brave Little Ben: Orangutan of the month
When I arrived at the Care Center more than six months ago, Ben was the smallest infant in OFI’s care. He always seemed a little timid, and when he was taken into the forest, he was often too afraid to explore the trees. Instead, he liked to cuddle up in a caregiver’s lap where he… Continue reading Brave Little Ben: Orangutan of the month
Free again – a visit to one of OFI’s releases
Seluang Mas is a very special place. Chosen after extensive ground surveys and GIS satellite map readings by Pak Robert Yappi and Dr. Biruté Mary Galdikas, it is difficult to access. The area consists of magnificent, barely untouched rain forest, much of it peat swamp forest. Located at the edge of Tanjung Puting National Park,… Continue reading Free again – a visit to one of OFI’s releases
Orangutan of the month: Vanessa
The Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine(OCCQ) is surrounded by several camps that consist of sleeping enclosures for the orangutans and basic facilities for staff. Pondok Medang is one of these camps, located within OFI’s rehabilitation forest and currently home to 25 adolescent orangutans who are preparing for permanent release into the wild. When you visit… Continue reading Orangutan of the month: Vanessa
Ibu Maryanti: heart of OFI’s enrichment.
When you see Ibu Maryanti at work at OFI’s Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine in Pasir Panjang, Kalimantan Tengah, Indonesia, you can sense her love for the orangutans. Her concern for the well being of the orangutan orphans in her care is reflected in everything she does. As OFI’s enrichment coordinator, her task is far… Continue reading Ibu Maryanti: heart of OFI’s enrichment.
Orangutan of the Month: Cory Marder
If grades were assigned in forest kindergarten, little Cory would certainly be top of her class. She is smart and also very driven, practicing and honing her forest survival skills every moment she is out in the Care Center’s rehabilitation forest. But Cory Marder is not only smart, she is also very pretty with her… Continue reading Orangutan of the Month: Cory Marder
Charming Cabang: Orangutan of the Month
Most of the orangutans at the Orangutan Care Center & Quarantine (OCCQ) in Pasir Panjang, Kalimantan Tengah, Indonesia, have come into OFI’s care as a result of habitat destruction. Rainforest conversion to palm oil plantations, logging, and mining leads to fragmentation of the orangutan’s habitat, leaving orangutans with little choice but to enter plantations in… Continue reading Charming Cabang: Orangutan of the Month