Biruté Galdikas
Canadian primatologist and conservationist (1946–2026)
- 4 min read
- 6 chapters
Related on Lably
Through World War II, Psychology and Anthropology
Early life
Galdikas was born on 10 May 1946 in Wiesbaden, Greater Hesse, Germany. Her parents, Antanas and Filomena Galdikas, were Lithuanian refugees fleeing the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states following World War II. When Galdikas was two years old, the family moved to Canada, when her father signed a contract to work in copper mining in Quebec. The following year, they relocated to Toronto, where Galdikas grew up. Her father worked as a miner and a contractor. As a young child, Biruté's head was filled with visions of far-off forests and exotic creatures. The first book she borrowed from the Toronto Public Library was a tale about a monkey named Curious George. When she grew older, she was inspired by the National Geographic adventures of Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey. She had two younger brothers and a younger sister.
Sign in to keep reading
5 more chapters are free with a Lably account.
Education
In 1962, the Galdikas family moved to Vancouver. Two years later, after Galdikas had begun studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC), the family moved to the United States, where Galdikas enrolled in the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and studied psychology and zoology. In 1966, she earned her bachelor's degrees in psychology and zoology, jointly awarded by UCLA and UBC. That year she also met her future husband, Rod Brindamour from Vancouver, who was on a trip to Los Angeles. She married Brindamour and earned her master's degree in anthropology from UCLA both in 1969.
During her graduate studies at UCLA, Galdikas met paleoanthropologist Louis Leakey, and proposed a plan aimed at studying orangutans in their natural habitats. Galdikas convinced Leakey to help orchestrate her endeavour, despite his initial reservations. Leakey found funding from the National Geographic Society which agreed to establish a research facility in Borneo. Galdikas's research became the basis of her doctoral studies, and she earned her doctorate in anthropology from UCLA in 1978.
Death
Galdikas died in Los Angeles on 24 March 2026, at the age of 79, from lung cancer.
Recognition
Galdikas was featured in Life; The New York Times; The Washington Post; the Los Angeles Times; numerous television documentaries; and twice on the cover of National Geographic.
In 1995, Galdikas was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Along with fellow Trimate Jane Goodall and preeminent field biologist George Schaller, Galdikas received the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement in 1997 for her groundbreaking field research and lifetime contributions to the advancement of environmental science. Other honours include Indonesia's Hero for the Earth Award (Kalpataru); Institute of Human Origins Science Award; United Nations Global 500 Award (1993); Elizabeth II Commemorative Medal; the Eddie Bauer Hero of the Earth (1991); PETA Humanitarian Award (1990); the Sierra Club Chico Mendes Award (1992); and the UCLA Professional Achievement Award (2001). She was awarded a key to the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. In June of 2025 she was awarded the Explorers Club Medal
Media
Books
- Reflections of Eden: My Years with the Orangutans of Borneo (1995). ISBN 0316301868.
- Orangutan Odyssey (1999). ISBN 978-0810936942.
- Great Ape Odyssey (2005). Abrams: New York. ISBN 978-1-4351-1009-0.
Film and television
Galdikas starred in the feature documentary Born to Be Wild 3D, released in April 2011. She also appeared in the documentaries Nature (TV series, PBS, 2005); Life and Times (TV series, CBC, 1996); 30 Years of National Geographic Specials (TV documentary, 1995); Orangutans: Grasping the Last Branch (documentary, 1989); Beauty and the Beasts (Channel 4 UK documentary, 1996); The Last Trimate (TV documentary, 2008); She Walks with Apes (CBC TV documentary, 2019); and Terry Pratchett's Jungle Quest (documentary, C4, UK 1995).
Controversy
Galdikas was criticised in the late 1990s regarding her methods of rehabilitation. Primatologists debated the issue on the Internet mailing list Primate-Talk; the issue was further fuelled by the publication of articles in Outside magazine (May 1998) and Newsweek (June 1998). As reported in both articles and summarized in the 1999 book A Dark Place in the Jungle by Canadian novelist Linda Spalding, the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry—with whom Galdikas had clashed over logging policies—claimed that Galdikas held "a very large number of illegal orangutans ... in very poor conditions" at her Indonesian home, prompting the government to consider formal charges. Galdikas denied all such claims in a response to Newsweek in June 1999, remarking that allegations of mistreatment were "simply, wrong" and that the "outlandish" claims formed the basis of "a totally one-sided campaign against me."