I live with wild orangutans in the Bornean rainforest, AMA!

Have you heard of Terry Pratchett's Librarian?

No, tell me about it!

Is it true that Donald Trump's mother had sex with an orangutan approximately 9 months prior to giving birth to him?

I doubt it, orangutans have better hair than he does. But it's an interesting hypothesis.

Have you ever felt like you were in danger around them?

In the logical part of my brain, no. No researcher has ever been attacked by orangutans in any research site ever. But in the moment? HELL YES. There was one time where I was trying to track down this big flanged male named Codet (this guy). He had long called (a call they make which can be heard from really far away), and I headed off in the direction I thought he was at. He stopped long calling before I reached him, but I kept going, guessing where he could be. I was just walking around, looking in all directions, when all of a sudden he drops down to the ground right in front of me, grabs two small trees, and just bends them down all the way to the ground in a display of power. He was trying to psych me out. I almost shat my pants, but slowly backed away, trying not to show fear. If you run, they will chase you down. That's what they teach us anyways. Not to show any fear, and just stand your ground. As soon as I hid behind a tree, I peeked out and saw him walking away on the ground. I started walking behind him again, so as not to lose him. He immediately turned around and charged me again. I just stood still. My pants were probably soiled at that point anyways haha. I managed not to flinch, and he turned around and kept going on his way. Needless to say, after that I just let him go. You got to learn when the orangutan wants to be left alone.

Are orangutans endangered? Do you see evidence of human damage to their habitat?

Yes, endangered! The bornean species are doing a lot better than the sumatran ones, which are critically endangered, but the bornean ones are endangered as well. You can see evidence of human damage, but thankfully where I work is one of the better protected national parks. Less logging there than other places, and the forest is mostly primary rainforest.

Congrats on the NG grant.

As a professional Orangutan urine catcher, did you ever, you know, do the Bear Grylls challenge?

Thanks! Well, so far I have not yet been so dehydrated that I've needed to pull a Bear Grylls. But I hear their urine is sterile, so maybe next time.

Hello, What was it like the first time you encountered orangutan sex?

Haha. I thought this was a joke question, but then I rememberd that I saw TONS of orangutan sex while in Borneo. So it's actually a pretty relevant question. So it's actually pretty surprising how similar orangutans are to humans when it comes to sex. For starters, they do a lot foreplay. Like, even more than most humans I think. But really, that's only when the sex is not coerced (i.e., the female consents to the male's advances). Male orangutans can be extremely coercive and will grab females and force themselves onto them. Surprisingly though, I have to say that most of the sexual encounters I witnessed (and there were a lot!) were pretty consensual. I saw tons of oral sex, both female to male and male to female. They smell each other's parts before sex too. It's like they are inspecting each other. Sometimes, they can last a REALLY long time. Way longer than most humans, that's for sure. I didn't see this particular sexual encounter, but someone else at camp said she saw a male and female go at it for 2 hours in a row. Since they also mate up in the tree branches, they can adopt really crazy and interesting positions when mating. I recorded a few mating bouts on video actually (is that creepy?)

You probably aren't checking replies anymore, but what is your opinion on Palm fruit oil?

It's the #1 threat against orangutans and the rainforest in Indonesia. But it's one of those things that is SO common in an absurd amount of products that it's really hard to fight against it. It may be impossible to eradicate its use, but perhapd we can prevent further expansion of the palm oil industry...meaning, no new forests cut down for the sake of palm oil

That's good to hear. I hate palm oil and avoid using it, but it's hard to get my co-workers to understand the damage it does. It might not help that I'm one of those crazy vegans, so people take my animal welfare concerns with a grain of salt.

My girlfriend and I are starting to look into volunteering at an orangutan rehab facility for a month. Do you have recommendations on which ones are good?

I don't have any hands-on experience with any of them, but I can recommend the one in Ketapang, West Kalimantan. It's run by Karmele Sanchez of International Animal Rescue. They get volunteers every month and everyone seems to enjoy it. They do great work, and I think they were featured on NatGeo TV recently. They operate out of the same town our orangutan project does.

How did you wind up with such a cool job? And who gets to name the animals?

Networking in college! Talking to your professors is really important. It started as a volunteer experience, for which I got funding from the university, and it went off from there! As far as naming the animals, it's usually the person that first finds an unidentified orangutan. Sometimes deciding whether an orangutan is new to us, or deciding that we simply can't tell it apart from another one that is already named and ID'd, can make it difficult. So unless we're absolutely sure an orangutan is new, we usually label it an unidentified. Eventually, if we can build enough evidence that it is a new individual, we'll name it. That's where photography helps a lot.

How do orang-utans communicate with each other? Is it anything like human conversation?

There is nothing quite like human communication because other species lack a language like we do. But there are really close similarities in body language and posturing. It makes sense, because we share a common ancestor with orangutans. In terms of sounds, they have a large repertoire of vocalizations. My favorite is the kiss squeak. It's literally a kissing sound made exactly like humans would make it...by pursing their lips and blowing a kiss. But it's not meant to be a cute thing like in humans. It's actually a somewhat aggressive sounds, and they tend to make it when they want to scare off another creature, or when they are threatening another orangutan...saying in a sense to "back off". That's anthropomorphizing a bit, but it's difficult to talk about orangutans in a casual way without doing that...precisely because they are so similar to us.

When you say you "live with wild orangutans", do you actually live with them (i.e. sleeping with them, eating with them, etc.) or do you just live around them and go out to research them?

You said researchers have never been attacked by orangutans, but if a regular person was just dropped into their environment, would the orangutans kill them?

Well, I suppose I was embellishing a bit in the title. I don't live with them in that sense. I could't even if I wanted to because besides it not being ethical to have physical contact with wild orangutans, they don't have a social system that would be compatible with me interacting with them in that close way. There are videos of gorillas "welcoming" humans into their group...I remember one specifically of a photographer who was approached by a big silverback. He was being "tested", and eventully the gorilla " accepted" him. That's anthropomorphizing again, but for the purpose of the explanation it's ok. That sort of interaction would never happen in orangutans because even amongst themselves they don't do that. There is no group structure, and thus no need to "accept" anyone into the group. Individuals are mostly solitary. When orangutans see younfor the first time, they are a bit fearful and make noises and throw branches down to try to scare you away. But eventually they get habituated and then they just ignore you completely.

Oh, and re: humans being attacked by orangutans. You would really have to do something ridiculous like charge a male orangutan to be attacked. As long as you remain respectful of their space, it is safe. But I have heard of stories of orangutans raping women. Not sure how much truth there are to those, but if it is real those are probably cases of orangutans kept as pets and raised around humans. It probably wouldn't happen in the wild. Oh, speaking of, I think there was a case of an orangutan at a zoo that would become excited whenever it saw a red-headed woman. Orangutans have red hair.

What has surprised you most while living with Orangutans in their natural environment?

I think the most surprising thing is how they socialize with one another. Physically, they are so similar to us, but they have a way less social group structure. Well, really there is very little group structure. Most individuals are solitary, and spend most of the time alone. The only relations that still maintain ties are mothers and daughters. They usually occupy the same area even when the daughter becomes independent, and hang out to eat together from time to time. Sons migrate from their home territory once they become independent. Males also do not provide any paternal investment after sex. They just move on. So the strongest relationship in orangutans is between mothers and offspring...and really between mothers and daughters. This is different from gorillas, chimpanzees, and of course humans! Which all socialize in big groups throughout their lives.

The other thing that surprised me is the variation between males! Male orangutans are really weird in that they can mature in one of two ways: some grow cheek pads when they mature, and others never do. No one really knows for sure why it happens, but they seem to be alternate mating strategies. The big flanged males are preferred by females, but they also have to be stronger in order to hold territory. The unflanged males are more "sneaky" and move throughout the forest without really maintaining a hold on a territory. Maybe from far away, they look like females and can avoid aggression from flanged males. Their mating strategy seems to be more "sneak and rape" whereas flanged males "sit and wait" for females, because females prefer flanged males.

How's your internet connection out there in the rain forest?

Obviously no google fiber out there! But considering how remote it is (it takes an 8-hour canoe ride to get to the research site from the nearest village), it is surprising that we have some sort of connection at all! We are only able to connect to the internet using phones. There is not much signal, so it's not ideal. Far from it actually. We have to hang our phones from plastic bags when loading something or sending out a text because even the slightest touch from your hand can make it lose signal. Some phones are better than others though. I had an iPhone 4 last year and it was awful. Other people with blackberries had a much easier time. I'm going back with a Moto X this time, because it apparently has the best antenna. So maybe my connection will be better this time around.

My co-worker is about to go do some volunteer work at the facility you named a couple of weeks from now. (Odd that you'd post an AMA now--good timing.) What piece of advice would you give her if you could only offer one? Can be about the trip to Borneo, working at the facility, what to expect with the locals... anything will probably be helpful.

Oh, how about that! I'll probably meet her then, how long will she be there? Hmmm I would say just to try learning Indonesian right away! It's easy to learn, and really amplifies the experience because most people don't speak English. I think it was also really nice to have a kindle, because reading is one of those activities that you come to really value at camp. If she has to go through the permit process in Jakarta, tell her to stay at Six Degrees hostel! I had a great time there. Of course, hostels aren't for everyone, but this one is really nice! And in terms of interacting with Indonesians, it's definitely an interesting experience! People are very welcoming but definitely have a different concept of privacy. People can also be very indirect when compared to westerners. But I love Indonesia, and learning from its people is a great experience, so tell her to keep an open mind!

Also, a hammock was my most prized possesion at camp. Nothing beats relaxing in a hammock in the jungle when not working.

Do the orangutans have a sort of like ranking system? Like is there a head orangutan that leads all the others?

Not really. Orangutans are solitary for the most part, and lack a social hierarchy like the kind you see in chimps, and most extremely in monkeys like rhesus macaques. Adult .ale orangutans usually don't tolerate other males...they almost never socialize with each other.

Do they tend to form gangs and conduct illicit activities like drug dealing? And is saggy pants a prominent style? Thanks in advance.

Those activites have not yet been reported in the primatology literature, but I'll keep an eye out next time. This guy, Syklops, seems like a good contender. Dude's missing an eye, so he might have been involved in some serious underground shit.