Forest Explorers: Unraveling the Mysteries of Juvenile Orangutans
In the Kluet Peat swamps in North Sumatra is the Suaq Balimbing Orangutan Monitoring Station, where Emma Lokuciejewski conducts her research. Encircling the station are humid peat swamps filled with rot-fallen trees, tall grass, and liana vines that climb their long, flexible fingers towards the forest canopy. The difficult-to-traverse forest is an ecosystem with rich biodiversity, made more impressive by its resident orangutan population. Herein lies the purpose of the conservation biologists in these swamps: to monitor and research the orangutans in their native waterlogged home, and it is here that Emma pursues her passion for investigating orangutan behaviour.
On her path to becoming an orangutan researcher, Emma studied Evolutionary Biology at the University of Exeter, followed by a Masters focused on post-release behaviour in rescued and reintroduced orangutans in Central Kalimantan, Borneo. After a stay with the Borneo Nature Foundation, Emma now holds her current position and pursues her doctoral research.
Orangutan - Photos by Suaq Project and DECRG MPI.
The ordeal to reach the study site highlights the remoteness of the orangutan's forest home. Emma describes: "The journey into the forest is via a traditional wooden speedboat, which meanders through the river, dodging fallen trees." An abundance of wildlife can be glimpsed from the boat ride along the river's edge. One bank is lined with towering trees that are hung with twisting lianas. Their branches rustle with monkeys that swing from tree to tree in search of the juiciest forest fruits and leaves. The other bank, however, is scarred by the regimented row of oil palms and barren, dry ground, accompanied by the background grind of chainsaws. This emphasises to the researcher that whilst her study site is a protected area, it is entirely encircled by palm-oil plantations, and the future of the critically endangered orangutan is entirely uncertain.
We were interested to learn more about Emma's research and how it is conducted in such a challenging environment. Emma's research will form her PhD, with her thesis focusing on juvenile orangutans who have recently left their mother's care and are developing their independence by acquiring new skills and mastering more complex social interactions. To develop these new skills, Emma proposes they undergo a period of exploration that is specific to adolescence. To document such a process, Emma must observe the juvenile orangutans using various data-collecting techniques over a rigorous schedule, typically starting first thing in the morning.
The boat ride and Emma - Photos by Suaq Project and DECRG MPI.
At 4:30 am, Emma and her team of local field assistants awake for a rice or egg breakfast. By 5:00 am, they begin their trek into the forest, with the path illuminated by their head torches. The path finds the team ankle-deep in water as they traverse the perpetually flooded swampland, the mud and water sometimes even reaching chest height. However, navigating such rough terrain is worth it when they reach the sleeping nests of the orangutans. Here, Emma and the team patiently await the awakening of the first orangutans, which commences the day's observations, requiring the researcher to follow the individual as they go about their day's activities. As it advances through the forest, records of the individual's actions are made at two minutes intervals, providing snapshots of the orangutan's daily life. Data focus on the individual orangutan's diet, modes of travel, social interactions, and nest building. In addition to these observations, Emma also uses a hand-held GPS to record location data as she travels through the forest, enabling Emma to collect combined spatial and behavioural insights.
“A remote area, with very limited phone reception, in extremely difficult terrain”
As the orangutan's day draws to a close, the team observes it building itself a new sleeping nest within which to spend the night, signaling the end of the team's observations for the day. They then trudge back through the dense, water-logged forest to return to their camp: a collection of traditional stilted wooden buildings with communal sleeping quarters. Here, the team eats, showers, and prepares to do it all over again tomorrow. But not before cataloguing the day's data and photos.
Into the forest - Photos by Suaq Project and DECRG MPI.
Through her research, Emma has gained an intimate understanding of the lives of the juvenile orangutans she chronicles. "Orangutans are primarily solitary, though they may meet with other individuals in trees with a lot of fruit or to find mating partners." Yet, this is not the case for juveniles, she notes, "Juvenile orangutans tend to be more social, playing with other young individuals or 'peering' at adults as a means of socially learning new skills. It is particularly exciting to see these slow and thoughtful animals intricately analysing each other's behaviour."
Orangutan, Sumatra, Indonesia Photo by Steffen B. on Unsplash
Working among primates and their habitat may provide insights into the difficulties they face from outside influence, and similarly, her experience working with orangutans has affected her own worldview. "Working in Indonesia, in general, has opened my eyes to the corruption of very local scale and national organisations. The people who lead the decision-making for the future of our rainforests, very often do not have conservation as their priority. This has been a disheartening realisation, though it encourages me to challenge those systems and strive for change."
Exhausting, sweaty, incredible!
Emma explains that working in such rugged terrain requires an individual to be physically and mentally fit and possess a passion for research; the experience can easily become overwhelming. Yet, the harsh terrain rewards the hardy researcher with greater population density of orangutans compared with many other sites. It is in this humid and remote environment that Emma continues to advance our understanding of some of our closest relatives and hopefully provide crucial information that aids in their conservation and survival into the future.