Draft:Ian Singleton
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Comment: Likely notable, however referencing needs to be improved. Media assertions are made but do not cite the coverage. For notability purposes on Wikipedia, we need significant coverage (more than routine reporting or passing mentions) in reliable independent secondary sources with reputations for accuracy and fact-checking. IMDb is not a reliable source, and any sources relating to organisations employing Singleton are primary and not independent. Paul W (talk) 11:40, 3 November 2025 (UTC)
- Comment: Singleton likely meets Wikipedia's notability guidelines for people. However, much of this article is unreferenced. All information pertaining to living people should include an in-text citation. Significa liberdade (she/her) (talk) 05:55, 24 October 2025 (UTC)
- Comment: In accordance with Wikipedia's Conflict of interest policy, I disclose that I have a conflict of interest regarding the subject of this article. Ichthyophis (talk) 13:58, 23 October 2025 (UTC)
Ian Singleton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 3 January 1966 Hull, England |
| Known for | Orangutan research and conservation |
| Awards | Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) |
Ian Singleton Ph.D., OBE (born 3 January 1966)[1][non-primary source needed] is a British scientist and conservationist renowned for his work with orangutans.
Early life and education
[edit]Singleton was born on 3 January 1966 in Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England later moving out of the city to the smaller town of Hedon, aged 8, where he attended South Holderness School.[2][3]
In 1987 he graduated with a BSc (hons) degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Sunderland.[4][5]
In 2000 he became a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) after graduating from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent in Canterbury, with the thesis entitled "Ranging Behaviour and Seasonal Movements of Sumatran Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus abelii) in Swamp Forests."[6][7]
Career
[edit]Singleton began his career as a zookeeper in 1987 working with a variety of ungulates and carnivores for the Zoological Society of London at Whipsnade Zoo and then moved to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland's Edinburgh Zoo before becoming orangutan keeper at Gerald Durrell's Jersey Zoo for the then Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust (now Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust) in Jersey, British Channel Islands in 1989.[4][8]
In 1996 he left the zoo world to study wild orangutans for his Ph.D., at the Suaq Balimbing research station in the Gunung Leuser National Park and Leuser Ecosystem in northern Sumatra, Indonesia returning to the UK in 1998 to write his thesis.[7]
On completion of his doctorate Ian then returned to Indonesia in 2001 to establish the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme for the Swiss-based PanEco Foundation and the Indonesian NGO Yayasan Ekosistem Lestari (Sustainable Ecosystem Foundation).[9] Today he is mostly focussed on overseeing the management of the orangutans and songbirds at the new Orangutan Haven near Medan, North Sumatra.[10]
Publications
[edit]Singleton has been involved in numerous documentaries on orangutans for, among others, the BBC,[citation needed] Discovery Channel,[citation needed] National Geographic[citation needed] and was a featured expert in Leonardo DiCaprio's Before the Flood and Charles Ferguson's Time to Choose.[11][12]
Singleton has authored or co-authored numerous publications in scientific journals,[citation needed] and popular media including a paper in the journal Science in 2003 describing the existence of orangutan cultures[13] and another paper in 2017 describing the Tapanuli orangutan as a new species of great ape.[14] He was the lead author on the IUCN Red list of threatened species entry for Sumatran orangutans.[15]
Honours and awards
[edit]In recognition of his work Ian was listed as one of the UK's Top 50 Conservation Heroes by magazine BBC Wildlife in 2015,[2][6] and in the 2020 Birthday Honours he was honoured for his services to conservation and the environment with the award of Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II.[16]
References
[edit]- ^ "Dr Ian Singleton". The Orangutan Project. Retrieved 2025-10-23.
- ^ a b "Conservation heroes from Yorkshire in top 50 'most influential'". Yorkshire Post. 2015-05-11. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
- ^ "Holderness Academy : Alumni and Destinations".
- ^ a b "Dr. Ian Singleton". Global Conservation. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
- ^ "Dr Ian Singleton | About Us". Orangutan Land Trust. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
- ^ a b "Major recognition for two Kent trained conservationists". News Centre - University of Kent. 2015-05-15. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
- ^ a b Singleton, Ian (2000). Ranging behaviour and seasonal movements of Sumatran orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus abelii) in swamp forests. Doctor of Philosophy (PHD) Thesis, University of Kent. (KAR Id:94657) (Thesis). doi:10.22024/UniKent/01.02.94657.
- ^ Singleton, Ian (1992). "A brief account of the hand rearing of a female Bornean Orangutan Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus at the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust". Dodo J. Will. Preserv. Trusts. 28: 78–84.
- ^ "SOCP - Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme". SOCP. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
- ^ "Orangutan Haven | Conservation, Education, Sustainable Development". Orangutan Haven. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
- ^ "Ian Singleton". IMDb. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
- ^ "Ian Singleton | Additional Crew". IMDb. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
- ^ van Schaik, C.P. (2003). "Orangutan Cultures and the Evolution of Material Culture". Science. 299 (5603): 102–105. Bibcode:2003Sci...299..102V. doi:10.1126/science.1078004. PMID 12511649.
- ^ Nater, Alexander; Mattle-Greminger, Maja P.; Nurcahyo, Anton; Nowak, Matthew G.; de Manuel, Marc; Desai, Tariq; Groves, Colin; Pybus, Marc; Sonay, Tugce Bilgin; Roos, Christian; Lameira, Adriano R.; Wich, Serge A.; Askew, James; Davila-Ross, Marina; Fredriksson, Gabriella (2017-11-20). "Morphometric, Behavioral, and Genomic Evidence for a New Orangutan Species". Current Biology. 27 (22): 3487–3498.e10. Bibcode:2017CBio...27E3487N. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2017.09.047. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 29103940.
- ^ IUCN (2017-10-16). Pongo abelii: Singleton, I., Wich , S.A., Nowak, M., Usher, G. & Utami-Atmoko, S.S.: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2024: e.T121097935A259045437 (Report). International Union for Conservation of Nature. doi:10.2305/iucn.uk.2024-1.rlts.t121097935a259045437.en.
- ^ Gunawan, Apriadi (2020-10-14). "Queen Elizabeth honors orangutan conservationist". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 2025-10-23.