A6 - Wednesday, July 18, 1984 - North Shore News Leaderless? ith prime Minister John Turner’s decision to run in Vancouver Quadra leaving most of Capilano riding feeling a bit empty, much like a primed athlete who finds out ‘his event has been cancelled, we are faGed with the very in- teresting possibility of seeing the leaders of our two national parties without a seat following election day. Not a probability mind you, but a strong possibility. Mulroney’s decision to take on the liberal incumbent in his Quebec riding, a seat won by the Grits with a 16,000 vote lead last time round, and Turner’s decision to tackle Tory Bill Clarke in a Conservative stronghold that held Quadra with a 7,000 vote edge, will focus more attention on the leaders’ ridings than in the past where those ridings were soft - to say the least. This election is starting to take on the ap- pearance of an election of similarities. We have Turner and Mulroney, not only sounding alike, but having the business background as well as sprouting much the same policy as witness the statements by both on the energy question. And now, in the quest for continuing the similarities, we have both leaders running in ridings that are far from the traditional ‘safe’. While there is nothing wrong with two parties feeling the same about an issue, there is something disconcerting when we _ in Canada are facing very tough economic times at all levels of society and the two ma- jor political forces seem to be singing the same song and in the same choir. Very ‘Special’ ven though the focus of much of the free world will be focused on Los Angeles and the upcoming Olympic Games, we should not forget the very special games that went on at UBC this past weekend. The B.C. Special Olympics for mentally han- dicapped perhaps reaffirm the motto of the modern Olympics that the most important part of the games is not winning bul taking part and the most important thing in life is not conquering, but in fighting well. (WR VOXCR OF HOTTH Aran WERT VANCOUVER Display Advertising 980-0511 northshore erreur mcs ss Newsroom 085-2131 ri ew S Circulation 986. 1337 UNDA WEDOEDAY - vera Subscriptions 980-2707 1138 Lonsdale Ave. North Vancouver BC V7M 2HA Publlaher Pete: Speech Editor-in-Chiet Advertising Director Noel Wright Varve b cates Associate Publisher Robect Gataham Personnel Director Berm Hillard Classified Manage: Val Slepheasan Circulation Director be Mace senwes Production Director Cori dotrer sc oe Photography Manago: Terry Peters North Shore News fo sded 90% an ae epee sotto ver ager acc) Cadatifterd) caracder Soe Prevefuabe Uli Paset uit Vane age age: Vee ot tthe tecope Tas Act os pubisnhed eact Wednesday Fiday and Sunday Dy North Shore bree Press (1d and int buted te evecy door or the Nortt Shor Second (lass Mail Hogistratir Numte: i865 Entire contente 1904 North Shore Free Prese Lid All rights reserved Swatone ciptioga Sort, amd West Vass aniwe $95 pe yen Matra, ate ‘ ‘ avatlatioe of consent Na Ceproneibity accepted "on seveve tea reve alee Vin deny crvepewatec COE Ge) Pic bare wvbie Fob beh Cae me CO par ee Ley ot ado ronged envelope Member of the 6 C Press Council Tae pend e 68.556 aoe age Wodhnescda, SEA DNASE Su May A psedany SN G WN Z Ye g Z Z Z \ \ Zi 1S SAID THE MEEK WILL INHERIT THE EARTH ae, we ro & Sage f mle Sh ‘Rehab’ for Orangutans IGHT MONTHS EACH YEAR, Simon Fraser University’s Dr. Birute Galdikas lives among Borneo’s Orangutans, slogging through jungle swamps to study them and running a ‘‘rehabilitation’’ program for captive orangutans returned to the wild. From May to December, Dr. Galdikas resides in a camp in the steaming jungle of Borneo, one of the two re- maining homelands of the orangutan Studying orangutans as they live in the wild and sharing her home with adopted orangutans, Or Galdikas has become perhaps the world’s authority on the orange ape, which teeters on the verge of extinction Her research may shed new hght on human evolution Many paleontologists now think that the common ancestor of modern great apes and humans was a creature stmilar to. the orangutan “LT hope my research will give us insights as to how man evolved away from the apes,’ she says know where our uniqueness hes if we don’t analyze the behavior of our nearest relatives "" Thirteen years ago, Dr Galdikas set out for Bornco as a young Ph D student Ostginally, her work involved “‘sehabilttating '’ otangutans Under an order by the Indonesian govern ment. all otrangutans held in captivity were required to be returned to the Galdthas fan oa “We won't young yungle Ot ‘halfway house? she where chdcavored Co aecustom ox Laptiive apes to ive ins the wild MOTHER ROLE fu othe carly years, Dt Coaldikas found herself fithiag the role of mother to several baby apes Ir Hep oet published ono the Nattonal Geograph magazine, she re counts the trials of TAIN one of these cxatremely depen infants dent named Supite By HUGH WESTRUP ‘‘determined to give him as normal an upbringing as possible, | allowed Sugito to ching to me. | had little choice. Even shifting him from one part of my body to another anvolved much fighting and howling. Chang. ing clothes became a major undertaking, with Sugito screeching and clutching at whatever was coming off He slept curled up next to me and would not abandon me even when I bathed in the river,”’ Mother and child As time went by, more “monster babies’' (her mckname tor the ape babies) came to. olive with Di Csaldikas ion her bark walled hut And as the apes grew, so did thet capacity to reduce everything on the hut to oa shambics Dr Craldihas describe)es the chmact days spent wath three youngsters aamed ( em paka, Sotiarso and Rio 1 was somctlines they convinced that were the high ape inicihpence to man (mum capactly just thinking up new ways to using ditve ome Cempaka would dump bowls of salt inc my tea clary Sobarso would eat flashlight bulbs and both she and Rio would suck ail our fountain pens dry. 1 would find old socks in my morning coffee. It was a continual bartle of wits, and they won!”’ In desperation, Dr. Galdikas built herself a wooden house, leaving the youngsters behjnd in the hut. From her ape-proof § san- tucary, she watched the ram- bunctious apes wreack havoc. In no time at all, the hut came tumbling down. However, Dr. Galdikas began putting the apes’ meals out in a feeding station in the forest about 250 metres away from her camp. Gradually the orangutans moved away from the camp and adapted to jungle life; her efforts al rehabilitation were a success While orangutans are still being returned to nature, Dr Galdikas is no longer needed to play mother She simply hands over the apes to grown up cx captives bving around her camp ‘‘They seem to rehabilitate cach other ,"" she says Thes has teft Or Galdikas free to devote more time to her research Much of het time is spent hacking through dense brush or slogging up to her waist through thick swamps while following the tral of a wandenng ape Dr Caldbkas characterizes the orangulan as a gentic, easy going animal that nacsts wm trees Compared to. the other apes, the orangutan ts a solilary creaturc, spending only 20 per cent of tts time with other orangutans Most soluary of all) are the oldet males which troam the forest alone ino scarch of fruit. oun (cracting with other apes onty to mriaic INTELLIGENCE Scientists long Chought that the orangutan way primarily Noel Wright on vacation a tree-dweller. But by follow- ing the apes through the jungle, Dr. Galdikas observ- ed the orangutans will spend as long as six hours a day on the ground. An ape might even nap on the ground, making a nest by bending a sapling under him as he lies down. Dr. Galdikas calls the orangutan the most in- telhgent land animal, next to man. As an illustration of this intelligence she describes how an orangutan cats a prickly burr: ‘‘The ape will pick off, not just onc, but six or seven of these burrs. Then a will rub the burrs against a branch, taking off the pnickles. ‘This shows how the amimal ts able to plan ahcad and also how the ammal 1s able to use the branch as a tool.’’ The birth of her own child tet Dr Galdikas compare human and orangutan development “‘A once year old orangutan merely clings to its mother (or me in this case) showing little interest in things other than to chew on them or put them on. tts head ©" The baby orangutan's main interest in life is food, whereas a human baby's in terests include manipulating objects, using tools, ctc The pens of raising an orangutan too close to human civilization became tragically apparent when Sugito, the fhrst)§ cx captive, was released into the jungic Apparently jcalous of the younger orangutans that had replaced him in Dr Csaldikas’ alfectton, Sugito tauracd vioient Mec killed several of the baby apes “Orangutans are not ag gicasive creatures, 9 Dr QOaidtkas says ““Sugito was brought up as a buman but his small ape brain couldn't cope with it” Pr Gsaldhhas lectures in anthropology at Simon Peasct University (C anadtan Science News)