It is with a heavy heart we inform the passing of David Chivers, Trustee of Borneo Nature Foundation International and long-time friend and supporter of ours. David, who passed away on 5th March 2025 at the age of 81, was one of the defining figures of field primatology in Southeast Asia.
A Cambridge scientist from the early 1960s until the end of his career, he devoted his professional life to understanding the apes and forests of the region — beginning with pioneering doctoral fieldwork on siamangs in Peninsular Malaysia, and extending through decades of research on gibbons, orangutans, and the ecosystems they depend upon. His 1974 monograph on the siamang became a foundational text in primate ecology, grounding a career-long fascination with how animals and forests shape one another.
In the mid-1980s he helped establish Project Barito Ulu in Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, bringing together international researchers and Indonesian institutions to examine the role of fruit-eating wildlife in forest regeneration. It was a commitment to Borneo’s forests and wildlife that never left him, and in time it found expression through his long association with the Borneo Nature Foundation, where he served as a trustee and offered scientific guidance and mentorship to those carrying the work forward.
Over his career, David supervised around fifty doctoral students — many focused on gibbons or orangutans, including four of our current directors — and was appointed Professor in Primate Biology and Conservation at the University of Cambridge. Alongside his scholarly achievements, he was known for his warmth, his fierce dedication to his students and a genuine delight in the animals he studied (not least his ability to reproduce a gibbon’s dawn call with remarkable accuracy!)
As Helen Morrogh-Bernard, BNF co-founder and one of David’s former students, writes, he was passionate, kind and supportive, and will be hugely missed.
“Monday morning meetings with David were always fun. He would open with jokes to get us going, and often take us all to the nearby pub for lunch, helping us form life-long friendships. I could not have asked for a more supportive supervisor. He was not only a mentor, but a friend and a father figure, always there when needed; whether looking after our car when we were away in the field, welcoming my baby daughter into the group, or helping us get BNF running smoothly in our early days. I even named the first male baby orangutan born during my PhD research after David. I am sure ‘Chivers’ is now a big, dominant male wandering the forests of Sebangau! Thank you for everything, I will miss you.”
In memory of David and his desire to help train the next generation of scientists and conservationists, we are proud to henceforth name our internship program for aspiring primatologists in his memory. Farewell, David, from everyone at BNF. Your passion lives on in all your students.
