The objective of our primate research is the conservation, monitoring and protection of primate species and their habitats in Borneo. We aim to gain a better understanding of primate behavioural ecology in tropical peat-swamp forest, to compare this with populations in different habitats and to see how primates cope with disturbance of their forest habitat.
Using established methods which allow comparison between species, we study their feeding, social behaviour, communication (calls and singing), home ranges, population density and trends, and habitat requirements. We assess the impacts of human activities and conservation actions. Changes in behaviour, diet or ranging can be early-warning indicators of shifts in primate population density. By understanding their behaviour, we can detect changes and implement effective conservation strategies.
Southern Bornean orangutan
Our flagship Orangutan Research Project has been ongoing since 2003 when BNF Co-Director, Dr Helen Morrogh-Bernard, first started to habituate wild orangutans in the Sebangau National Park and collect data on their behaviour and ecology. We have followed over 100 different individuals, and conducted over 25,000 focal-animal follow hours, making this one of the most extensive studies of orangutan in their natural environment. We have discovered that orangutans can adapt to changes in forest condition provided that large feeding trees remain, and that orangutans in peat-swamp forest behave quite differently to those in dryland dipterocarp forests. We have found evidence using genetic data that females are philopatric, staying close to where they were born, whereas males disperse far away. And, excitingly, we made the very first discovery of a fur-rubbing behaviour for self-medication; a behaviour that has only ever been observed in Sebangau National Park.