This week Orangutan Foundation International Canada celebrates and honours the 47 years of ongoing research of wild orangutans by Dr. Biruté Mary Galdikas, our foundation president and inspiration.
Every year the first week of November marks when Dr. Galdikas and her husband at the time, Rod Brindamour, arrived in what is now Tanjung Puting National Park, to begin the ground-breaking study on wild orangutans that continues at Camp Leakey to this day.
Our goal during this week is to share with more Canadians and the wider world some of the things Dr. Galdikas and other researchers have discovered about the magnificent and endangered orangutan. We hope through new facts about these apes, you will come to share our love and admiration for them. We hope to inspire you as we have been by Dr. Galdikas, to share with your friends and family how incredible and important orangutans are to preserve in this world.
Only by raising people’s awareness to the plight of orangutans in the wild can we increase our power to stop their impending extinction. Our growing base of Canadians who care about orangutans is truly heart warming and we hope through Orangutan Awareness Week each year we can grow an even bigger and stronger movement to protect orangutans!
So, keep an eye out on our social media for orangutan facts and don’t forget to join in and share this year’s Orangutan Awareness week!