Biruté Galdikas, the pioneering primatologist who spent over half a century studying and protecting wild orangutans in Borneo, died on March 24 in Los Angeles at age 79. Her death from lung cancer was announced by the Orangutan Foundation International, which she founded in 1986. Galdikas was one of the "trimates" - alongside Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey - who revolutionized the study of great apes under the mentorship of Louis Leakey.

In 1971, Galdikas established Camp Leakey in what is now Tanjung Puting National Park, a remote 1,174-square-mile habitat teeming with leeches, malarial mosquitoes, and king cobras. Her groundbreaking research documented orangutans' solitary nature, their diet of over 400 food types, and their unusually long birth intervals of nearly eight years. Her work attracted international attention through two National Geographic magazine covers in 1975 and 1980, featuring photographs by her first husband, Rod Brindamour.

Galdikas's dedication to orangutan conservation earned her numerous honors, including the 1997 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, often called the Nobel Prize of environmental science. Her half-century of continuous observation of orangutans remains one of the longest-running mammal studies by a single investigator. Through her foundation and tireless advocacy, Galdikas helped bring global awareness to the critically endangered species and the urgent need to protect their disappearing rainforest habitat.