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2018 ANNUAL REPORT - INDIANAPOLIS ZOO

Orangutans in Kutai National Park

Prof. Anne E Russon, PhD
Psychology Dept., Glendon College - York University, Toronto, Canada
Dec 13, 2018

OVERVIEW - MAJOR 2018 ACTIVITIES

Our 2018 research and conservation work continued to be defined by the 2010-16 El Niño
Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle, especially the El Niño events that caused severe drought
conditions in Kutai National Park (KNP) from mid 2014 through mid 2016. This drought had
major effects on all KNP’s resident flora and fauna, orangutans included, and we are still
observing the forest’s and its orangutans’ recovery from these effects.

RESEARCH
We have found more orangutans in our Bendili research area in 2018 than in each of the
previous four years - all of which experienced strong ENSO effects - with numbers noticeably
better than they were during El Niño conditions. The probable reason is this area’s orangutan
food resources have continued to recover, so these orangutans have resumed ranging and/or are
ranging more often in our Bendili research area. We likewise found more orangutans in the
Prevab area, ~8 km SE of Bendili, but only marginally more. Finally, after El Niño we detected
synchronized births and offspring stacking, so El Niño may affect KNP orangutan reproduction
strongly. Both signal the importance of long-term cycles to KNP orangutans.
In the field, we have continued collecting data to assess where orangutans range when we
cannot find them in our Bendili study area (e.g., nest censuses, searches farther inland) and on
female reproduction (birth timing, mother-offspring relations). We continued to focus analyses
on the impacts of ENSO cycles, and can now include comparisons of the patterns we found
within the 2010-16 ENSO cycle with those emerging in the current ENSO cycle. A new Master’s
student in Environmental Studies collected field data for his study of threats to KNP orangutans.
Our KNP findings contributed to several research publications in 2018, all relevant to the
conservation of Bornean orangutans, especially in KNP. We developed and presented a paper on
the effects of the most recent ENSO cycle on KNP orangutans at the International Primatological
Society Congress in Nairobi, Kenya (Aug 19-25, 2018); I am now preparing a written version of
this paper for publication. Dinda Pranyunita, our assistant project manager, attended this IPS
Congress as an invited participant in the pre-congress primate conservation workshop (fully IPS
funded, by invitation only). Adam Bebko recently completed his PhD dissertation on orangutan
ranging in our Bendili study area in KNP. His dissertation research comprises three studies: (1)
determinants of orangutan travel routes (e.g., food availability, ecological bottlenecks), (2)
orangutans’ knowledge of resource-poor areas (e.g., areas they use to escape human followers),
and (3) machine learning of orangutan travel patterns, which may help identify visible forest
features of areas that orangutans prefer to use.
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CONSERVATION
Reforestation for orangutans. We have planned formal reforestation in KNP to support
orangutans since 2012 but do not yet have authorization to start. My permit for orangutan work
in Indonesia is for research, not conservation, reforestation work requires additional permits, and
these are still under negotiation. The KNP office welcomes the reforestation project but national
approval is also required and still pending. In 2017, with great help from the head of the KNP
office, we made significant progress towards obtaining these permits. We have seen little further
progress in 2018. Details are in the following detailed report.
Forest enrichment for orangutans. In 2015, to fulfill an IZ request to plant trees for
orangutans in memory of a valued IZ supporter, we obtained permission from the head of KNP
to collect and transplant seedlings inside KNP. We have continued and expanded this program
yearly. In 2018, to enhance forest recovery after the El Niño drought, we enlarged and upgraded
our Bendili nursery and have planted 200+ more trees. In our similar program at the Prevab we
continued to collect and prepare seedlings, and planted 300+ trees. We have agreed to fund a tree
nursery inside KNP for the KNP office and are awaiting their instructions on how to proceed.
Climate change vulnerability assessment for KNP plant species. We collaborated with
IUCN staff from the Climate Change Programme - Global Species Programme on this IZ-funded
project (Jamie Carr, Alan Lee, Wendy Foden). The project aims to identify plants important to
KNP orangutans and likely to tolerate climate change. Outcomes could offer a valuable guide to
species selection for reforestation work. Recommendations were based on compilations and
reviews of available information to identify candidate plant species followed by two workshops
to assess them for their potential resilience to climate change (Bontang, E Kalimantan, May 8-12
2017, Feb 6-9 2018). The IUCN team then analyzed the workshop’s assessments and developed
final recommendations. I, my KNP orangutan research managers (Purwo Kuncoro, Dinda
Prayunita), and our ex-project manager (Agnes Ferisa) provided some preparatory data,
recommended participants, participated in both meetings, and contributed to the final report. To
my understanding, the final report is near completion and should be launched soon.
Other. We contributed to orangutan conservation via regular patrolling for illegal logging
in KNP and reporting problems to the KNP office; hosting KNP staff surveys and studies,
hosting learning visits for forestry students and orangutan rehabilitation staff to help them better
understand these forests and the challenges of free forest life for orangutans, sponsoring a
Master’s level study of threats to wild orangutan habitat in and around KNP, and media
interviews on orangutan conservation (Mongabey Bay, Boda Media Group S. Korea)

KNP ORANGUTAN RESEARCH

Research Focus
My focus for 2018 and the next few years is improving understanding of ENSO impacts
on KNP orangutans. ENSO is the irregular, multi-annual natural cycle defined by El Niño and La
Niña, related climatic events that cause extreme weather worldwide. Currently, ENSO cycles
recur about every 5-7 years. Their effects vary geographically. In Borneo, they affect orangutan
habitat through rainfall variation. They are critically important in E Borneo, whose forests are
poorest producers of orangutan plant foods, because it suffers the most severe ENSO effects.
The most important and best studied ENSO effects are El Niño droughts. For orangutans,
they cause prolonged famine but their end stimulates mass fruiting ‘feasts’. In KNP, El Niño’s
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effects may also affect reproduction. Adult female orangutans cease ovulation when their body is
in poor condition and resume with weight gain. Where El Niño droughts are severe, post El Niño
mass fruiting enables females’ ovulation so it effectively schedules mating and births; this may
in turn affect older offspring care. These effects on reproduction have not been formally studied
in KNP. Also little studied are the effects of La Niña (increased rainfall in KNP) and of entire
ENSO cycles (high year-to-year variation in rainfall). Both should affect orangutans’ feeding
ecology and habitat use and may be especially important to KNP, which is normally very dry.
Broad aims are to assess variation in orangutans’ feeding ecology, diet, habitat use, and
reproduction due to rainfall variation within and between ENSO cycles.
In 2018 and 2017, both post El Niño droughts, my focus has been (a) whether “our”
Bendili orangutans return to the Bendili area as forest conditions improve with rainfall and (b)
assessing El Niño’s effects on KNP orangutans’ reproduction (birth scheduling, offspring care).

Field Work Overview

We continued field work in both research areas in KNP, Bendili (our original research
area along KNP’s northern boundary) and Prevab (established by Akira Suzuki, ~ 8 km SE of
Bendili) (see Figure 1). Working from two sites helps us track “Bendili” orangutans in areas that
are difficult to access from Bendili, to observe different orangutans (including different female
kin clusters), and to better estimate local orangutans’ travel patterns and habitat usage.

Figure 1: KNP (L), Bendili and Prevab study areas plus proposed Sinara reforestation area (R)

Bendili. We continued our standard and regular searching for orangutans, following those
we found, and monitoring their feeding ecology. We found more orangutans in 2018 than in
2017 or in 2016 (see Figure 2), among them orangutans that we had found and followed in the
past but not recently - notably Putri (adult female) and her offspring and Sally (adult female with
a young infant, first followed as an adolescent in 2012). Implications are that when food was
scarce, orangutans we had followed either moved to different areas and/or became less tolerant
of companions and hid or escaped from us more effectively. Not all orangutans survived the
severe drought and food scarcities, however.
In 2018, we were also able to follow orangutans longer (more days) than we have since
2015-16 (Figure 2), probably with improving food availability once the El Niño drought ended.
We also continued research we started in 2015 to identify areas where Bendili orangutans may
range after we lose them (e.g., surveys farther inland, quarterly nest censuses that sample all
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parts of our study area), to develop a broader picture of their habitat use. Adam Bebko (my PhD
student) has also been analyzing all the GPS tracking data we gather when we follow orangutans
for 2010-14, to develop a broader picture of their habitat usage; we hope his results will help us
identify travel patterns and important areas.

BENDILI
Search:Find, Follow:Find - 2010-18
16
14
12
10
Ratio

8
srch:find
6
foll:find
4
2
0

Figure 2. Orangutan search, find, and follow results at Bendili, 01/2010-10/2018.

Search:find ratios (blue line) show the average number of days we searched to find one
orangutan. Follow:find ratios (red line) show the average number of days we were able to
follow an orangutan once we found one. Shaded areas show ENSO periods (darker/lighter
green = moderate/weak La Niña = heavier than normal rainfall; darker/lighter pink = very
severe/’failed’ El Niño = severe prolonged drought) and a typhoon (light blue = heavy winds
causing considerable damage to the forest canopy)

Prevab. We collected similar data on this area’s orangutans and feeding ecology. Follows
and observations continue to focus on two adult females, each with a young infant born late in
2015, to track the scheduling of female reproduction and factors that affect it. Most important is
Labu, who supports her infant plus a near-adolescent juvenile: my aims include assessing how
long she supports both and tracking how she and her juvenile handle greater food demands.

Analyses and Tentative Findings

Feeding ecology, ranging, carrying capacity. Orangutans are primarily plant eaters, so
rainfall variation within an ENSO cycle, from El Niño to La Niña, strongly affects when food
availability is good. In orangutan habitat that varies topographically, as it does in KNP, ENSO
cycles may also affect where food is available. Likely consequences are changes in an area’s
carrying capacity from year to year, plus major shifts in orangutans’ habitat use and ranging
between years as well as between normal seasons within a year.
Figure 1 below (table, graphs) shows the ENSO event patterning over the last 8 years, our
corresponding Bendili rainfall data and estimated Bendili fruit production (i.e., orangutans’ most
important foods). The ecological changes are clearly substantial, likely to have major effects on
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resident orangutan nutrition via their effects on food availability, and therefore likely to affect
resident orangutans’ habitat use (per Figure 2 above), their health, and female reproduction.

year event strength

2010-11 LN Moderate
2011-12 LN Weak
2012-13 --
2013-14 -- winds/Haiyan
2014-15 EN ‘Failed’
2015-16 EN Very Strong
2016-17 LN Weak
2017-18 LN Weak

Figure 1: ENSO events 2010-18 (upper left: LN - La Niña, EN = El Niño), corresponding

Bendili rainfall (upper right: blue line - mm/mo 03/2010-03/2018, red line - estimated
‘trends”), corresponding Bendili fruit production (#fruit/mo, all fruit)
Estimates of an area’s orangutan carrying capacity based on 1-2 year’s data, which has
been common, then almost certainly underestimate the amount and quality of habitat resident
orangutans need to survive - perhaps seriously so. Findings we reported in our 2017 report on
Putri, the adult female we have followed most often, showed changes in her habitat use within
the 2010-16 ENSO cycle. Overall, they suggest she moved (migration-like) and she used at least
double that amount of habitat that we and others had estimated based on 1-3 years’ data. Putri’s
actual home range is then at least double the standard estimate in size.
This has important conservation implications, since it affects the estimated number of
orangutans a given area of habitat can support (its carrying capacity). For KNP and perhaps else-
where in E Borneo, this finding could half current estimates of carrying capacity: one orangutan
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needs twice as much habitat as short-term studies suggest. Because of these multi-annual weather
cycles, E Bornean habitat may not be able to support as many orangutans as typically estimated.
Health and Survival. These ENSO conditions are also likely to have affected orangutan
health, their survival included. Three examples below, at Bendili, suggest how.

This photo shows a young adult female with an

infant ca 1 year old that we found in the eastern part of
our Bendili study area in the first quarter of 2018.
She may be Sally, who we first found and followed
her in 2012 in the same area; she was then an
adolescent who still sometimes travelled with her
mother and young infant sibling.
If our estimate is correct, Sally’s infant was born
about a year after the 2015-16 El Niño drought ended.
El Niño droughts typically stimulate “masting”, the
mass coordinated fruiting of many species. The fruit
abundance improves female orangutans’ body
condition, and that enables ovulating, then mating,
then conception. So births tend to concentrate about a
year after an El Niño drought ends.
This photo shows an emaciated adult
female that our team found, dead, in the
eastern part of our Bendili study area in May
2018. There were no signs of attack, so she
probably died of starvation or its side-effects
(e.g., parasites). Starvation may well have
owed to the food scarcities caused by the
2015-16 El Niño drought.
This female’s 2-3 year old infant
survived. He/she was rescued and taken to a
nearby orangutan rescue center for care.

This photo shows Uttuy, an unflanged

adult male. We first found him in Bendili in
July, 2018: he behaved as if very weak, was
exceptionally thin and scruffy, and
concentrated on eating.
When we last followed Uttuy, late Oct.
2018, he looked somewhat better although he
was still thin and looked unhealthy. Other
than the female who died, he is the only
orangutan we have ever seen in KNP in such
poor condition, so it is likely he too suffered
badly during the recent El Niño drought.
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Female Reproduction. We extended our assessment of ENSO impacts on female

reproduction patterns in KNP to assess (a) whether births are El Niño paced as suggested above,
(b) the prevalence of offspring stacking, and (c) possible links between the two.
Background. Female orangutan reproduction has been puzzling because it is extremely
slow: one infant at a time, average interbirth interval (IBI) 7.5 years, “offspring stacking” (OS)
absent or very rare (i.e., a mother simultaneously supporting an infant and a juvenile). The very
slow reproduction is a major reason for orangutans’ vulnerability to extinction, so why it occurs
is puzzling. Reasons are not well understood despite considerable study, but limited food supply
is probably important. Evidence suggests El Niño affects reproductive scheduling via its effects
on food supplies: IBI is longest in Sumatra (9.3 yr) where its effects are weakest, shortest in E
Borneo (6.5 yr; KNP 6.1 yr) where its effects are strongest, and intermediate in CW Borneo (7.7
yr). These effects are understood to owe to rainfall following El Niño droughts; rainfall improves
plant food availability, which in turn enables female reproduction. El Niño may also affect OS:
other species inhabiting areas where El Niño causes highly variable and unpredictable food
production practice OS, humans included, perhaps because OS may increase immatures’ chances
of surviving the worst ecological conditions. A few incidental reports suggest OS in orangutans,
all in Borneo and most in E Borneo; it has recently been observed at a central Bornean site.
In 2018, we extended our collection of historical data on female orangutan births in KNP
to include research reports from the 1970s and 1980s that described births, new young infants, or
mothers with multiple offspring. Combined with reports we previously obtained from long-term
KNP staff and field assistants working in the Prevab area, we obtained reports of 26 offspring in
11 adult females from 1984-2015, including several sightings of adult females with 2-3 young.
Interbirth intervals. We estimated each offspring’s birth year based on the original
reports and its relationship to ENSO events. If El Niño enables female reproduction via its
effects on food supplies, especially masting, then births should concentrate ~1 year after an El
Niño event ends. The 1 year includes time for plant flowering and fruit production, female
weight gain and resumption of ovulation, conception, and ~8 months pregnancy. Currently,
ENSO events occur at 5-7 year intervals on average, so 1 in 6 births (~17%) could occur by
chance ~1 year after an El Niño event. Of the 26 birth reports we found, ~42% occurred about a
year after an El Niño event - much more than expected by chance. These 26 births also generated
an average interbirth interval estimate of 5.9 years (shortest reported 1-3 years); this is close to
Suzuki’s estimate of 6.1 years and very close to the current average ENSO interval of 5-7 years.
Offspring stacking. OS seems counterintuitive in E Bornean orangutans: E Borneo
provides the worst orangutan habitat so pressures to support just one offspring should be greatest
there. A second factor, however, is IBI scheduling: if ENSO cycles pace IBI in E Borneo then
juveniles are younger in E Borneo than elsewhere when their mother’s next infant is born. They
may be too young to survive on their own, so they stay near their mother and new infant for that
reason. OS could then be relatively common in E Borneo because independence in Bornean
offspring is typically 7-8 years. Reports of OS in KNP are too weakly documented to make a
good case for causes and prevalence, but two current cases offer some insights into the process.
We have regularly followed Labu and Putri, adult females who practiced OS: both supported
their juvenile offspring for > 2 years after the birth of their next infant. Putri was last seen with
her juvenile male Pur when he was ~7-8 years old. Labu still travels with both offspring; her
juvenile female Langit is now ~8 years old.
An important question is how E Bornean mothers and juveniles manage the costs of OS.
Possibilities include juvenile and mother feeding in different patches and/or juvenile helping
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with infant care and learning. We have now been collecting behavior data for over two years on
how Labu and her two offspring handle the increased foraging pressures. I have not analyzed our
date formally, but discussions with my field staff who observe them regularly suggest Labu
tolerates vs. encourages her juvenile Langit’s presence. Langit, e.g., travels near and often in
sight of her mother, but often eats in different trees. If this pattern holds, OS may owe to the
juvenile’s being too young to range alone and his/her efforts to maintain maternal support.
Patterns may also differ for male vs. female juveniles; females orangutans live in kin clusters,
and are relatively friendly or tolerant of female relatives.

KNP CONSERVATION WORK - 2018

KNP Reforestation Project
We have not yet started this work because central government permits are still pending. I
summarized our work since 2012 to obtain permits for IZ funded reforestation work in KNP in
my 2017 annual report. In 2018, there have been no changes to this permit situation.
In the interim, with the KNP authority’s permission, we are continuing our small-scale
forest enrichment in both study areas that we use in KNP. We have also offered to fund the
construction of a tree nursery for KNP staff use in the Prevab area. KNP authorities have
accepted our offer; we are awaiting their instructions on how to proceed.

KNP forest enrichment

The KNP office has approved our transplanting seedlings of native tree species already
growing in KNP to other areas inside the park. We began this forest enrichment on an IZ request,
in memory of a valued IZ supporter. We have continued it in our Bendili area and started in the
Prevab area. Our focus is species important to orangutans - primarily, important food species.
We collect seedlings from suitable native trees within our study area and then care for them in a
forest nursery near our post until they are large enough and conditions are good enough to
transplant them. We transplant them in small numbers (ca 20-30 at a time), during periods with
adequate rainfall, into areas of KNP forest that (a) would benefit from enrichment and (b)
provide suitable growing conditions for the species being transplanted.
In 2018 as in 2017, due to the extent of KNP forest damage during the 2014-16 droughts,
we expanded our forest enrichment work. We further improved our plant nursery at Bendili,
improved our plant nursery facilities build at the Prevab, and increased the intensity of collecting
and planting seedlings. In 2018, we planted ca 500 seedlings in total in our two study areas. I
have discussed further transplanting work in the Sinara hill area with my team; we have not yet
started this project because we had several field staffing problems early this year (change of our
assistant field manager, two experienced field assistants left the project) and the dry season is
just now ending. I will be speaking with my field manager about this work during my Dec. visit.

IUCN - Kutai NP climate change project

We collaborated with the IUCN Climate Change Programme team (Jamie Carr, Alan Lee,
Wendy Foden) by providing data on plant species important to orangutans, suggesting experts to
consult, participating in their workshops (1st - May 8-12, 2017; 2nd - Feb 5-8, 2018), reviewing
the final report, and helping translate some parts of the report into Indonesian.
We provided the list we compiled in 2007 of all known orangutan foods (Russon et al.,
2009), food lists for KNP orangutans (our current list, 1971-86 lists), our KNP tree plot data (for
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species availability), and our 2016 KNP tree phenology data (potentially relevant to resilience,
e.g., survived vs. died during 2014-16 El Niño droughts). We suggested Indonesian and
international specialists on Bornean forests (foresters, botanists) and orangutans (researchers and
conservationists), especially in East Kalimantan, who could provide valuable input.
Carr developed a preliminary list of 200+ KNP plant species of importance to resident
orangutans and organized the first workshop (May 8-12, 2017) to assess these species for their
habitat needs and sensitivities, growth patterns, threats, and rain-drought tolerance. Workshop
participants were specialists on Bornean orangutans, forests, and botany, KNP staff, other
government representative, and three members of my orangutan field team (myself, my two field
managers P Kuncoro and D Prayunita) and one ex-manager (A Ferisa). Government attendees
did not contribute to scientific assessments but were important to raising KNP’s profile locally,
nationally, and internationally. The workshop also assessed additional plant species specialists
recommended considering. Alan Lee, one of Carr’s colleagues, attended this workshop, analyzed
the data it generated, and became the IUCN representative for the rest of this project.
Lee organized the second workshop (Feb. 5-8, 2018) to discuss the findings to date and to
produce final recommendations. I, my orangutan project managers (P Kuncoro, D Prayunita),
and our ex-project manager (A Ferisa) also participated in this workshop. Other important
participants included Indonesian groups who have undertaken major reforestation projects, as a
source of examples and advice.

Monitoring and Patrolling

We continued our normal monitoring of illegal activities within KNP. In 2018, we
detected serious illegal logging operations within the park near our study area on several
occasions and reported them to KNP authorities. KNP staff patrolled along our Bendili study
area on several occasions, often in response to our reporting increased illegal logging in our area.

Other orangutan conservation-related activities

At Bendili, we hosted visits by students, researchers, and conserationists, including R.
Guild (Master’s student, Canada, for major paper study), Prof. E Ingmanson (primatologist,
USA, orientation visit), Baliktek and Jejak Pulang (a new orangutan rehabilitation project in East
Kalimantan; visit to study native orangutan plant foods), KNP staff (nest census, vegetation
analysis), forestry students (with KNP supervisors, for field study). KNP staff patrolled our area
several times, due to reports of increased illegal logging in our area. On an informal basis, I and
other member of our research team at the Prevab often discussed orangutans with tourist visitors.
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2018 Publications
Publications to which our KNP orangutan research contributed (see notes for add’l info)
Voigt M, Wich SA, Ancrenaz A, Meijaard E, Struebig M, Abram N, Aldrianto, Banes, GL,
Campbell-Smith G, d’Arcy L, Delgado RA, Erman A, Gaveau D, Goossens B, Hartanto H,
Heinicke S, Houghton M, Husson SJ, Lackman I, Leiman A, Llano Sanchez K, Makinuddin
N, Marshall AJ, Meididit A, Miettinen J, Mundry R, Musnanda, Nardiyono, Nurcahyo A,
Odom K, Panda A, Prasetyo D, Purnomo, Rafiastanto A, Raharjo S, Ratnasari D, Russon
AE, Santana AH, Santika T, Santoso E, Sapari I, Sihite J, Spehar S, Sulbaran-Romero E,
Suyoko A, Tjiu A, Utami-Atmoko SS, van Schaik CP, Wells J, Wilson KA, Kühl HS (2018).
Global demand for natural resources eliminated more than 100,000 Bornean orangutans.
Current Biology, 28(5), 761-769.e5
Russon A, Kurniawan N, Kuncoro P, Prayunita D (2018). Importance of ENSO cycles to wild
orangutans (P p. morio), Kutai National Park, E Kalimantan. Paper presented at the 27th
Congress of the Int’l Primatological Society, Nairobi Kenya, Aug 19-25. (see note 1)
Lee ATK, Carr JA, Ahmad B, Arbainsyah, Ferisa A, Handoko Y, Harsono R, Graham L,
Kabangnga L, Kurniawan NP, Kessler JPA, Kuncoro P, Prayunita D, Priadjati A, Purwant P,
Russon A, Sheil D, Sylva N, Wahyudi A, Foden W. (2018). Reforesting for the climate of
tomorrow: Recommendations for selecting tree species for restoration that strengthen
orangutan conservation and climate change resilience in Kutai National Park, Indonesia.
IUCN Species Survival Commission, Climate Change Specialist Group. (Indonesian version
available) (see note 2).
Russon, AE (2018). Orangutans in Kutai National Park: History and current conditions. IUCN
Climate change vulnerability assessment of Kutai National Park plant species, Bontang, Feb
6-9, 2018.
Bebko, AO (2018). Orangutan Habitual Route Networks: Ecological and Cognitive Influences
on Orangutan Space Use. PhD dissertation, York University, Toronto, Canada (see note 3)
Guild, R (2018, in prep). Threats to Orangutan Survival and a Path to Effective Conservation
Efforts. Master of Environmental Studies major paper, York University, Toronto Canada.
(see note 4)

Other publications relevant to orangutans and their conservation (see notes for add’l info)
Russon, AE (2018). Pantomime and imitation in great apes: Implications for reconstructing the
evolution of language. Interaction Studies, 19:1-2, 200-215. DOI 10.1075/is.17028.rus.
(supplementary materials https://doi.org/10.1075/is.17028.rus. (see note 5)
Russon, AE (2018). Orangutan intelligence. In GL Banes, M Fox, & C Sodaro (eds.),
Orangutan Husbandry Manual (in Chinese), pp. 34-65. Chinese Association of Zoological
Gardens and Hongshan Forest Zoo. (see note 6)
Russon, AE (2018). Innovation and problem-solving in orangutans. Draft chapter (submitted),
for Handbook of Animal Cognition, Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology, J Kaufman, A
Kaufman & J Call (eds.).
Sherman J, Farmer KH, Williamson EA, Unwin S, Kahlenberg SM, Russon AE, Cheyne SM,
Humle T, Mylniczenko N, Macfie E, Wich S. (2018). Methodology and technological
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advisory resources for ape reintroductions to natural habitats. International Primatological

Society Congress, Nairobi, Aug 19-25. (see note 7)
Wright, P, Kling, K, & Russon, AE. (2018). Primate Tourism: New Solutions. Symposium
organizer & discussant, International Primatological Society Congress, Nairobi, Aug 19-25
(see note 8).

Publication Notes
1. Russon et al. (2018) - IPS abstract: The importance of multi-annual food availability cycles to Bornean
orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) is well known, especially ENSO, the irregular cycle defined by El Niño and La
Niña events that can cause extreme weather worldwide. ENSO cycles are especially important in East Borneo,
where their impacts are the most severe. El Niño’s effects are well studied (severe droughts followed by mass
fruiting) but those of La Niña and entire cycles are little known. This paper presents our findings on changes in
orangutan (P. p. morio) behavior, feeding ecology, and reproduction in Kutai National Park, East Kalimantan,
Indonesia as a function of rainfall variation within the 2010-16 ENSO cycle. Our observational data on
behavior, feeding ecology, and reproduction plus historical information on female reproduction indicate
changes in habitat use (migration-like) and sociality strongly correlated with rainfall variation within this ENSO
cycle and ENSO-scheduled reproduction. These findings resemble those reported elsewhere in Borneo, but
appear more severe in Kutai NP. We also documented two cases of offspring stacking lasting approximately
two years; behavioral data suggest how these mothers and juveniles managed the increased nutritional demands
and ultimate separation. Findings have important implications for understanding the bases of orangutan
geographic variation, especially the scheduling of their reproduction, and for conservation (e.g., an area’s
carrying capacity, in terms of the size and quality of habitat needed to support orangutans).
2. Climate Change Project final report. We contributed to this report (e.g., correcting info, text editing). I am not
entirely happy with some of the content, especially material on ‘community conservation’ recommendations
that were not discussed at either workshop and, to my understanding, are beyond the scope of this project. I
understood a formal launching would be planned, have heard nothing about specifics.
3. Adam Bebko’s dissertation research is based on our KNP orangutan project’s ecological and travel data
collected in the Bendili area. Bebko assisted with data collection, defined and assessed this paper’s question,
conducted and interpreted analyses, and took the lead in writing all three papers. The three papers comprise the
body of his PhD dissertation
4. Ryan Guild visited KNP in the summer of 2018 to collect data for his Master of Environmental Studies major
paper on conservation threats to orangutans in and around KNP; for practical reasons, he focused on the Bendili
and Prevab areas.
5. The pantomime and imitation paper is one product of my invited participation in Michael Arbib’s project, “How
the Brain got Language”. My contribution included participating in an invited workshop (Aug. 2017), where I
presented a paper offering evidence of great apes using pantomime to communicate and of “action” imitation
(imitating the details vs. overall “program” of a model’s behavior). Both abilities have been proposed as
important evolutionary stepping stones to language - but to have evolved only in the human lineage. I was able
to feature Rocky’s pantomiming and imitation in the talk and the paper. Responses to this material were very
positive, so this contribution should contribute to changing the hypothesized “evolutionary timeline” for
language to situate the origins of pantomime and action in ancestral great apes - before the human lineage
emerged. Any such move stands to increase the importance of living great apes which could enhance support
for their protection. The written paper is one of the collection of papers on “How the Brain got Language”.
6. This orangutan intelligence chapter is published in the Orangutan Husbandry Manual for China (it is published
in Chinese). I wrote this chapter by invitation, to improve readers’ understanding of orangutan intelligence -
thereby hopefully improving the care they receive in captivity and concern for their survival. It targets readers
with relatively limited formal knowledge about orangutans, so much of its content consists of descriptions of
orangutan behaviors that show high intelligence (wild, rehabilitant, and captive).
7. I am a co-author as a member of ARC (Ape Reintroduction Committee) and I presented the paper at IPS (J.
Sherman) was unable to attend. Here is the abstract: “Reintroduction of wild-born orphaned primates from
temporary captive care into natural habitats is widely practiced for species recovery, but is rarely analyzed for
its conservation impact or effectiveness. This is largely because tools such as IUCN reintroduction guidelines
are misunderstood, ignored or misapplied. In particular, analysis of alternative activities for species
conservation, including “no action” (no reintroduction), is underutilized. This paper presents a great ape
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reintroduction methodology that uses available tools and knowledge to assess potential impacts and
effectiveness relative to the circumstances of the proposed release and to alternate conservation activities.
Conservation NGO Wildlife Impact (WI) established an Ape Reintroduction Committee (ARC), composed of
independent scientific advisors, to assist ape release practitioners and funders to interpret and implement IUCN
guidelines, including feasibility assessments and alternative actions to enhance population viability. The Gorilla
Rehabilitation and Conservation Education Center (GRACE) in Democratic Republic of Congo contracted WI
in 2017 to develop a release methodology for its orphaned Grauer’s gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri). The
gorilla release methodology, created with input from the ARC and other experts working in the region, included
advice on release candidate selection, social dynamics, disease risk, post-release monitoring and consideration
of alternative actions. These tools provide GRACE with a basis for making objective decisions about the
relative costs and benefits of reintroduction and alternative species conservation activities.
8. I served as a discussant for this symposium. Here is the abstract: “Primate tourism has been suggested as a
major source of income to help support the conservation of primates and their habitats within national parks and
protected areas. One added advantage envisaged of seeing a primate in the wild is generating a positive lifetime
effect on participating tourists, encouraging “fans” for wild primates. Within the last 30 years, some regions
have experienced exponential growth in primate tourism and sometimes in tourist income. Within the last
decade, primate tourism has become so popular that overcrowding at unmanaged sites is affecting primate
ecology, health, and behavior, as well as tourist experiences. Effective management of tourists, primates, local
people and staff, tourist area development, and the tourism industry has become a critical priority. The purpose
of this symposium is to bring together groups across disciplines and primate range countries, including
representatives from academia, the tourism industry and national parks, to discuss the current state of primate
tourism. Talks covering current controversial issues will be followed by a discussion panel to share ideas.