Orangutans

Serge Wich received his MSc in animal behaviour in 1995 at Utrecht University (the Netherlands) for which he conducted a study on food competition in wild Sumatran orangutans. In 2002, he received his PhD from the same university for a study on the structure and function of male Thomas langur long-distance vocalizations.In 2003, he started as a post-doc at Utrecht University to study 'cultural behaviour' of orangutans in two orangutans in two orangutan poplulations one on Sumatra and on on Borneo. Currently he is a visiting scientist at Great Ape Trust of Iowa from where he continues with field work on Sumatran orangutans and is currently also involved in studies on the orangutans and bonobos at Great Ape Trust. Suci Utami Atmoko started conducting research on orangutans while at the Universitas Nasional in Jakarta where she received her BA for a study on female reproduction.She continued her orangutan research on male bimaturism research at Utrecht University where she obtained her PhD in 2000. Since then she has been involved in orangutan research and conservation activities in Borneo and Sumatra. She is currently a lecturer at Univeritas nasional (jakarta, Indonesia). Tatang Mitra Setia started studying Indonesian primates in 1979 at the Ketambe research site. In 1988 he began his studies on social relationships of orangutans. In 1995 he received a MSc at Universitas Indonesia (Jakarta, Indonesia). He is involved in orangutan research on both Borneo and Sumatra and currently he is the Dean of the Biology Faculty of Universitas Nasional (Jakrta, Indonesia). Carel van Schaik has studied primates in Indonesia and elsewhere since 1976. He received his MSc at Utrecht University (the Netherlands) for a study on behavioral ontogeny in orangutans. In 1985 he obtained his PhD at the same unviersity for a study on the socioecology of long-tailed macaques. After a post-doc at Princeton University, he worked as a lectured at Utrecht University and later as a Professor at Duke University. He is interested in the social evolution of primates and currently studies orangutans at two sites in Indonesia. He is the author of a large number of scientific articles and has edited several books on topics ranging from male infanticide to primate conservaton. Currently he is professor at and the director of the Antropological Institute & Museum of the University of Zurich, Switzerland.

Introduction ; 1. Taxonomy, geographic variation and population genetics of Bornean and Sumatran orangutans ; 2. The functional significance of variation in jaw form in orangutans: The African apes as an ecogeographic model ; 3. Orangutan positional behavior: inter-specific variation and ecological correlates ; 4. A description of the orangutan's vocal and sound repertoire, with a focus on geographic variation ; 5. Orangutan life history variation ; 6. Orangutan distribution, density, abundance and impacts of disturbance ; 7. The effects of forest phenology and floristics on populations of Bornean and Sumatran orangutans: are Sumatran forests better orangutan habitat than Bornean forests? ; 8. Orangutan activity budgets and diet: A comparison between species, populations and habitats ; 9. Geographic variation in orangutan diets ; 10. Parasites and their impacts on orangutan health ; 11. The ecology of female reproduction in wild orangutans ; 12. Development of independence: Sumatran and Bornean orangutans compared ; 13. Ranging behavior of orangutan females and social organization ; 14. Geographical variation in orangutan long calls ; 15. Male-male relationships in orangutans ; 16. Orangutan mating behavior and strategies ; 17. Social organization and male-female relationships ; 18. Ecological sex differences in wild orangutans ; 19. Nest building in orangutans ; 20. Innovation and intelligence in orangutans ; 21. Orangutan cultures revisited ; 22. Orangutan population biology, life history, and conservation: Perspectives from PVA models ; 23. Orangutan rehabilitation and reintroduction: Successes, failures, and role in conservation ; 24. Geographic variation in orangutan behavior and biology: its functional interpretation and its mechanistic basis ; References ; Index