Jakarta. The Indonesian government, through its embassy in Washington, D.C., and the consulate in Los Angeles, is coordinating efforts to repatriate the remains of renowned orangutan conservationist Birutė Mary Galdikas in accordance with her final wishes, following her death in the United States.

Indonesia’s Forestry Ministry has expressed deep condolences over her passing on Tuesday, March 24. Galdikas died in Los Angeles after decades of dedicating her life to orangutan conservation in Indonesia.

Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni said her death marks a significant loss not only for the global conservation community but also for Indonesia, where she spent years protecting orangutans in the forests of Central Kalimantan (Borneo).

“Farewell Prof. Dr. Birutė Mary Galdikas. Indonesia has lost one of its finest daughters, who worked tirelessly and quietly for decades in the forests of Central Kalimantan to conserve orangutan habitats,” Antoni said in a statement posted on Instagram on Wednesday.

Antoni said he received the news directly from Galdikas’ son, Fred, late Tuesday night Jakarta time. He added that she had been battling lung cancer, which prevented her from traveling back to Indonesia in recent months despite her strong desire to return to Kalimantan.

He said Galdikas had expressed a final wish to be buried in Central Kalimantan, on Dayak land, near the grave of her late husband.

“Fred conveyed her wish to be laid to rest in Dayak land in Central Kalimantan, close to her husband’s grave. He is now arranging the administrative process to repatriate her remains from Los Angeles to Jakarta through the Indonesian Consulate General in Los Angeles,” Raja Juli said.

Born in Germany, Galdikas earned a PhD in anthropology from the University of California, Los Angeles before embarking on groundbreaking fieldwork in Indonesia. In 1971, she and her then husband, Rod Brindamour, arrived at the remote Tanjung Puting Reserve — then one of the world’s last untouched wilderness areas with no roads, electricity or modern communication.

Despite skepticism from academics who doubted orangutans could be studied in the wild, Galdikas established Camp Leakey — named after her mentor Louis Leakey — and began documenting the behavior and ecology of wild orangutans. Her persistence paid off, culminating in a landmark National Geographic cover story four years later that brought global attention to the species, illustrated with Brindamour’s photographs.

Over more than four decades in what is now Tanjung Puting National Park, Galdikas conducted the longest continuous study of any wild mammal by a single principal investigator. Her research transformed scientific understanding of orangutans, including documenting their long birth interval—averaging 7.7 years — and identifying more than 400 types of food consumed, as well as insights into their social organization and mating systems.

In parallel with her research, she helped rehabilitate and release thousands of orangutans back into the wild and founded the Orangutan Foundation International in 1986, headquartered in Los Angeles. The foundation supports conservation programs ranging from rehabilitation and quarantine to environmental education and habitat protection, with affiliated organizations in Indonesia, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

Galdikas also served as a senior advisor on orangutan conservation to the Forestry Ministry from 1996 to 1998. In 1997, she received the prestigious Kalpataru Award, the country’s highest environmental honor, becoming one of the first women and the only foreign-born recipient to be recognized.

Deeply connected to local communities, she later married a Dayak farmer, Bohap bin Jalan, and raised three children, while becoming known as a maternal figure to hundreds of rehabilitated orangutans.

Galdikas received numerous international honors for her conservation work, including the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, the United Nations Global 500 Award, and the Order of Canada. Her accolades also include the PETA Humanitarian Award, the Sierra Club Chico Mendes Award, the Pride of Lithuania Award, and the Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative and Jubilee Medals, reflecting global recognition of her decades-long commitment to orangutan conservation and environmental protection.

Raja Juli also recalled an emotional moment early in his tenure when he reopened dialogue with conservation activists after years of limited engagement, noting that Galdikas was moved to tears as she felt her decades of work were once again recognized by the government.

“If today you see the beauty of Tanjung Puting National Park, you will find the unseen footprints of a strong and deeply committed woman. Thank you for your service and dedication. Requiescat in pace,” he said.