Camp Leakey is home of the study and rehabilitation centre for orangutans and centre for volunteers of the Red Ape Challenge. Camp Leakey is in the Tanjung Puting National Park in southern Borneo, and was set up in 1971 by Louis Leakey. Louis Leakey was both teacher and mentor for three young primatologists who would go on to become well known in their field and beyond. Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey were two, who went on to become known worldwide for their work with chimpanzees and gorillas respectively. The third, Birute Galdikas went on to become the leading authority on orangutans and remains so to this day as president of the Orangutan Foundation International.

Camp Leakey, a site on the right branch of the Sekonyer River, was the main base for orangutan rehabilitation in Tanjung Puting from 1971 until the early 1990s. Camp Leakey was initially established by Dr. Biruté Galdikas for research on the resident wild orangutan population. Rehabilitation at Camp Leakey began informally in 1971, when Galdikas agreed with local authorities to accept ex-captive orangutans and assist them to return to free forest lives (Frey, 1978; Galdikas-Brindamour, 1975; OFI website, 1999)

Galdikas began using other sites within the park for orangutan rehabilitation from the late 1980’s (Tanjung Harapan, and briefly Natai Lengkuas). As of 1991 the intent was to cease rehabilitation at Camp Leakey because the camp had become increasingly crowded with rehabilitants, their offspring, and tourists. The crowding caused by the rehabilitants and their offspring probably stressed the wild population. The tourist influx undermined the rehabilitation process and increased the risk of introducing serious human diseases to the rehabilitant orangutans, who could then transmit disease to the wild orangutans.

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