Prof. Dr. Carel van Schaik, the former director of the Department of Anthropology of the University of Zürich started the orangutan research at the Suaq Balimbing monitoring station in 1994. Since 2018, the research activities at Suaq Balimbing are coordinated in the frame of the SUAQ project, which is directed by Dr. Caroline Schuppli, the Group Leader of the Development and Evolution of Cognition Research Group at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (Germany), in close collaboration with Universitas Nasional (Indonesia). The goal of the SUAQ Project is to understand what is needed for sustainable orangutan protection as well as to gain insight into human evolution.
One of the largest databases on orangutan behavior
In the last 20 years we have identified more than 200 orangutans at Suaq. Currently, there is around 60 habituated orangutans of which we follow 40 on a regular basis. Several of these individuals have been followed since the onset of the project, in some cases from birth into adulthood. Our long-term data base covers a time span of more than two decades and around 30’000 observation hours. This allows us to answer so far unresolved questions on the biology and behavior of this extremely long-lived species. Compiling this data is crucial for developing effective conservation strategies.
Research methods
Our research is strictly noninvasive and largely based on behavioral observations. All researchers follow the same standardized protocol for orangutan data collection (ab.mpg.de/571325/standarddatacollectionrules_suaq_detailed_jan204.pdf). Depending on the specific project of the researcher as well as ongoing other projects, additional data is collected. During the course of a normal follow, the travel route of the focal animal is recorded with the help of GPS devices. We also regularly collect fecal and urine samples for genetic and hormone analyses. Genetic analyses help us to determine the relatedness of our study animals.