Francine Neago
Born	Paris, France
Nationality	French
Fields	Primatology, medicine
Institutions	UCLA, IBM, Surabaya Zoological Park, Singapore Zoo
Known for	Orangutan language programs, preservation of endangered great apes

Dr. Francine Neago is a primatologist and conservationist specializing in orangutans. In addition to her internationally televised films about orangutans she has lectured worldwide and published several scientific papers in the Journal of Primatology (New York).

At UCLA she developed a computer system in conjunction with IBM later used by the Smithsonian National Zoo to teach language to orangutans [1], and organized and directed the world's first orangutan language study. With the aid of a computer, she taught an ape named Bulan English language arts, sign language and a method she devised for spelling in a phonetic alphabet. Encyclopædia Britannica first listed her language program in 1988 [2].

Born in Paris and originally trained as a general practitioner in medicine, she studied the behavior and language of Great Apes at Indonesia's Surabaya Zoological Park from 1965 to 1977. At that time she also volunteered as a park veterinarian, founded and operated a free medical clinic and hospital for 10 years, and pioneered a number of relief projects for Indonesian people. In 1977 she lived for six months inside a cage at the Singapore Zoo with eighteen orangutans to study their behavior and communication.

Between 1978 and 1989 she lectured in primatology at UCLA, and in 1980 she organized the rehabilitation of chimpanzees from cages in laboratories to the Lion Country Safari in Florida. Between 1990 and 1995 she rehabilitated local wildlife in the jungle of Costa Rica, and from 1996 to 1997 she organized a site for the rehabilitation of endangered wildlife while living in a private zoo in Riau Province in Sumatra. In 2004 she began work toward establishing a 2,000-acre (8.1 km²) sanctuary in Malaysia, and in 2006 she co-authored a book on humans raising an orphaned orangutan [3]. In 2007 she began establishing the Bali Endangered Animal Rescue (BEAR) habitat and international research center in central Bali [4].

Dr. Neago speaks and writes in French, English, Malay, Spanish, Italian, Serbo-Croatian and signs in Ameslan sign language.

[edit] External links

• Orang utan Language Project (OLP) Smithsonian National Zoological Park
• Curriculum Vitae of Dr. Neago
• Orphaned orangutan raised by humans Book by Dr. Neago, 2006
• International Directory of Primatology Neago, Francis
• Bali Endangered Animal Rescue (BEAR) habitat
• Interview with Dr. Neago: On conversations with Koko the Gorilla and getting run out of Indonesia following a military coup