April 2014: A graduate student from the University of California is embarking on an 18-month expedition using cutting-edge technology to study orangutans in Southeast Asia.
James Askew, whose family lives in England, will spend nine months each at Gunung Leuser National Park in Northern Sumatra and Kutai National Park in East Borneo. His research focusses on deciphering the role male orangutan calls play in the animals’ social structures and reproductive strategies. The calls can last for four minutes at around 100 decibels – roughly as loud as a chainsaw – and the sound can be heard as far away as a mile.
“Orangutans are highly dispersed, rarely encountering one another in dense jungle,” said Askew. “Yet they are very cognitively able and demonstrate relationships that appear to be based on previous encounters. So, interpreting what’s encoded in long distance calls, and how females are using this information, will play a pivotal role in our understanding of their social structure and reproductive relationships.”
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