Currently, the work at Suaq Balimbing is carried out by our team of long-term local field assistants and students from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI AB, Germany) and Universitas Nasional (UNAS, Jakarta, Indonesia) in collaboration with the University of Zürich (UZH, Switzerland), the Institute Pertanian Bogor (IPB, Indonesia), and the University of Warvick (UK). The topics of these projects are:

  • Development of intelligence
  • Skill acquisition
  • Cultural transmission
  • Feeding ecology
  • Cultural vocal repertoires

Availability of major food species and occurence of new oranutan (Pongo abelii) nests at the Suaq Balimbing research area in the Gunung Leuser National Park

.

Read more

Cognitive development and curiosity in wild orangutans

With this project, we investigate the interplay between cognitive performance and the psychological motivation of curiosity in wild and captive orangutans.

Read more

Evolutionary Precursors and Selective Forces on the Emergence of Language

.

Read more

Feeding behavior and food types of the Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii) at Suaq Balimbing

The goal of this project is to invest how ecological and social factors affect the feeding behavior and diet compositions of Sumatran orangutans.

Read more

Feeding techniques and nutritional content of the diets of juvenile Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii)

The aim of this project is to shed light on feeding skills and nutrition of independently ranging immature Sumatran orangutans.

Read more

Individual variation and plasticity in communicative interactions of Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii)

.

Read more