“Orangutans are on the verge of extinction. An expedition on National Geographic Orion increases awareness of this issue. By choosing to travel with Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic to the island of Borneo, guests are making a statement to the Indonesian Government as well as the Indonesian public that orangutans are important to the world.”
- Dr. Biruté Mary Galdikas
All through the night the National Geographic Orion has been steadily making her way across the Java Sea towards the third largest island on our planet, Borneo! Excitement is building at the prospect of walking in one of the oldest rainforests in the world, estimated to be 140 million years of age! This rainforest contains about 15,000 species of flowering plants, over 3,000 species of trees, more than 400 species of birds and 221 species of terrestrial mammals!
As the largest island in all of Asia, Borneo is divided among three countries; Malaysia and Brunei in the north, and Indonesia in the south. Tomorrow we will visit Tanjung Puting National Park in Indonesia in the company of our Global Perspectives guest speaker, Dr. Biruté Mary Galdikas. Dr. Galdikas has spent the last four decades here in this part of the world working with wild orangutans.
Much of today Dr. Galdikas kept us spellbound with her narrative of those 44 years, working with the Indonesian Government as well as local residents to study, protect, and rehabilitate these great apes. She has come to know these majestic animals as individuals who have shared their life story with her. Just as with Jane Goodall for chimpanzees, Dian Fossey for gorillas, Biruté Mary Galdikas has been the leading champion for wild orangutans. Listening to her speak leaves no doubt that hers has been a life dedicated to keeping orangutans wild and free.
