Find resources and information about an inspiring woman, copied from a FB post by 'A Mighty Girl':
Happy 79th birthday to primatologist Dr. Biruté Galdikas, the world's leading authority on orangutans! When she pored over stories of Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey’s primate research adventures while growing up in Toronto, Canada, Galdikas had no idea she’d be joining their ranks!
But when she met acclaimed paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey during her graduate studies, she told him she wanted to study orangutans in the wild — and soon she was setting up a research camp in the harsh rain forests of Indonesian Borneo when she was just 25 years old. Galdikas not only revolutionized our understanding of this little-known primate, but she also became an advocate for the protection of the orangutan’s rainforest home, which has been threatened by widespread logging.
As part of her conservation efforts, she tackled the trade in orangutans for pets, and created a center dedicated to rehabilitating captured orangutans with the hope of reintroducing them to the wild. Galdikas was recently named this year’s recipient of the prestigious Explorers Club Medal, the Explorers Club’s highest honor, given to those whose life’s work and scientific contributions betters humankind’s understanding of the places we have been, the places we are, and where we could be.
Currently a professor at Simon Fraser University and the president of the Orangutan Foundation International, Galdikas still speaks passionately about the importance of protecting natural spaces around the world: “Our connection with nature is very basic,” she said in an interview with EcoPost. “Without nature humans are lost. That’s it.”
To learn how to support her work protecting orangutans, visit Orangutan Foundation International at https://orangutan.org/
For an inspiring book for kids about Biruté Galdikas, we highly recommend "Undaunted: The Wild Life of Biruté Mary Galdikas and Her Fearless Quest to Save Orangutans" for ages 8 to 12 at https://www.amightygirl.com/undaunted-galdikas
Galdikas is also one of three female primatologists, along with Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey, whose story is told in the excellent graphic novel “Primates,” for ages 13 and up at https://www.amightygirl.com/primates
For adult readers, we recommend her fascinating autobiography, "Reflections of Eden: My Years with the Orangutans of Borneo," at https://www.amightygirl.com/reflections-of-eden
There is also an excellent book for adults about all three 'trimates', "Walking With The Great Apes: Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Biruté Galdikas," at https://www.amightygirl.com/walking-with-the-great-apes
To encourage your children's interest in protecting wildlife and the environment, visit our special feature on "The Top Children's Books on the Environment" at http://amgrl.co/2Di7J8w
** You can also find a blog post with 2 petitions to help the Tapanuli Orangutans: Hydro Dam Damning Tapanuli Orangutans and the Batang Toru Ecosystem!
