Tracking wild orangutans: understanding the when, where, and how of fission-fusion sociality in a great ape species

Understanding the mechanisms that regulate association patterns among fission-fusion species is key to unravelling the principles of collective behaviour across taxa. Among orangutans – who exhibit individual-based fission-fusion sociality – very little is known about the coordination of inter-individual spacing, largely because remote tracking of wild orangutans is not yet possible.

This long-term project has two major goals:

1. To develop a novel, non-invasive, GPS-based remote tracking device for wild orangutans, and

2. To deploy this device to collect high-resolution ranging data on wild Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii).

This unique data will shed light on the mechanisms underlying orangutans’ inter-individual spacing patterns and significantly advance the study of collective movement and coordination dynamics in fission-fusion species. Our novel tracking device will also expand the opportunities for non-invasive tagging and movement analysis across taxa.