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David Chivers

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David J. Chivers (born 1944) is professor emeritus in Primate Biology and Conservation, and former Director of Studies in Veterinary Medicine and also Biological Anthropology, Selwyn College, University of Cambridge. He is a former President of the Primate Society of Great Britain. He is noted for his research in the socio-ecology and conservation of primates and other wildlife in South East Asia, Southern Asia and Brazil.[1]

Education

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Chivers attended Merchant Taylors’ School, Northwood, before studying at Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge. He graduated in 1966 with degrees in Medical Sciences (Veterinary) and Physical Anthropology. Rather than pursuing clinical veterinary training, he began doctoral research in Physical Anthropology, focusing on primate behaviour. His PhD, awarded in 1972, was based on a two-year field study of the siamang in Peninsular Malaysia, following earlier research on Howler monkeys in Panama.[2]

Career

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Chivers joined the University of Cambridge in 1970 as a Demonstrator in Veterinary Anatomy and became a lecturer in 1975. He taught anatomy to veterinary students and primate biology in Physical Anthropology, supervising numerous research projects in Southeast Asia. His work emphasized primate ecology, nutrition, and conservation, including long-term studies in Malaysia and collaborative programs with local universities.

Chivers has edited books including Malayan Forest Primates (1980) and co-authored volumes on primate feeding and behaviour, which were favourably reviewed.[3][4][5][6]

He served as President of the Primate Society of Great Britain[7] and organized international primatology congresses. His research combined anatomical studies with field ecology, contributing to understanding primate diets and rainforest conservation.[2]

Siamangs

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Chivers frequented Malaysia from 1968 to 1972 while undertaking his PhD studying siamangs, from which he published The Siamang in Malaya. A Field Study of a Primate in Tropical Rain Forest.[8]

Gibbons

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Chivers developed a special interest in Gibbons following his first encounters in Malaysia in 1968. In 1985 he moved to Borneo to develop Project Barito Ulu in Central Kalimantan with the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry, to investigate the role of fruit-eating animals in seed dispersal, in the natural regeneration of forests, living there until 2012. Out of 50 doctoral studies he supervised, 12 were on gibbons.[9]

He was a noted expert of gibbon behaviour, including their raucous dawn singing, which he described as a “beautiful symphony”.[10][11][12]

Orangutans

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From 1999 to 2014 he focused on orangutans, supervising at least seven doctoral theses examining orangutan rehabilitation and reintroduction.[9][13]

Conservation and advocacy

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Throughout his career and after his retirement from Cambridge in 2013, Chivers has remained a vocal advocate for primate habitat conservation.[14][15] In 2009 he was a panellist at the Great Ape Debate held at the Linnean Society where conservationists discussed a growing controversy surrounding measures to save the orangutan.[13][16]

Chivers has emphasised “the critical issue of needing to understand ourselves” is central to mitigating negative human impacts, and believes biologist Jeremy Griffith’s explanation of the human condition offers “the necessary breakthrough.”[17]

Leadership positions

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  • President, Primate Society of Great Britain 1982-6[7]
  • President and trustee of the Borneo Nature Trust[18]
  • Patron of Twycross Zoo[19]
  • Head, Wildlife Research Group, University of Cambridge[16]
  • Tutor and Praelector and Gardens Steward, University of Cambridge[1]
  • Council Member, Fauna and Flora Preservation Society (FFPS) (now Fauna and Flora International (FFI))[20]

Selected publications

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Selected books

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  • Recent Advances in Primatology: Vol.2. David J. Chivers and William Lane-Petter (eds). 1978. Academic Press Inc. ISBN 978-0-121-73302-5.
  • Malayan Forest Primates: Ten Years’ Study in Tropical Rain Forest. 1980. ISBN 978-1-4757-0878-3[21]
  • Food Acquisition and Processing in Primates. 1982. David J. Chivers, Bernard A. Wood & Alan Bilsborough. Springer. ISBN 978-1-475-75246-5.[22]
  • Gorillas and chimpanzees (First sight). David Chivers. 1987. ISBN 978-1-573-35536-0.
  • Hands of Primates. 1993. Holger Preuschoft & David J. Chivers (Eds). Springer. ISBN 978-3-709-17434-0.[23]

Selected articles and chapters

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  • The siamang in Malaya: A field study of a primate in tropical rainforest. Basel: Karger; 1974.[8]
  • Chivers, David J. "Communication Within and Between Family Groups of Siamang (Symphalangus Syndactylus)", Behaviour 57, 1-2 (1976): 116–135.[24]
  • Chivers DJ. "Sexual behaviour of wild siamang". Chivers DJ, Herbert J, editors. Recent advances in primatology. London: Academic Press; 1978. pp. 609–610.
  • The primates of peninsular Malaysia. 1979[25]
  • Chivers DJ, Hladik CM. "Morphology of the gastrointestinal tract in primates: comparisons with other mammals in relation to diet." Journal of Morphology. 1980;166:337–386. doi: 10.1002/jmor.1051660306.
  • Chivers, D. J. (2001). "The swinging singing apes: Fighting for food and family in Far-East forests." The apes: Challenges for the 21st century (pp. 1–28). Brookfield, IL: Chicago Zoological Society.
  • Chivers, David J. "Gibbons: the small apes." World atlas of great apes and their conservation. Berkeley: University of California Press. p (2005): 205–214. ISBN 0-520-24633-0.
  • Harrison ME, Morrogh-Bernard HC, Chivers DJ. "Orangutan energetics and the influence of fruit availability in the nonmasting peat-swamp forest of Sabangau, Indonesian Borneo". International Journaly of Primatology. 2010;31:585–607
  • Chivers, David J. and McConkey, Kim R. "Introduction: From Diets to Disturbance: The Evolution of Primate Feeding Studies". How Primates Eat: A Synthesis of Nutritional Ecology across a Mammal Order, edited by Joanna E. Lambert, Margaret A. H. Bryer and Jessica M. Rothman, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2024, pp. 1–18.[26]
  • Nobi, Mohammad Nur & Sarker, A.H.M. & Nath, Biswajit & Kvinta, Paul & Suza, Ma & Chivers, David & Misbahuzzaman, Khaled & Røskaft, Eivin & Hossain, Mohammad. (2025). "Evaluating the economic value of Sundarban, Bangladesh’s provisioning services with a special focus on the forest dependency of the local peoples." Journal of Forest Research. 1–11. 10.1080/13416979.2025.2564572.

Documentary films

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  • Gibbons: The Forgotten Apes In Peril. 2009. 48min. Presenter. Directed by Elliot Haimoff.[27][28]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Professor David Chivers | Selwyn College". www.sel.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  2. ^ a b "David Chivers". Oryx. 20 (3). 3 July 1986 – via www.cambridge.org.
  3. ^ Kinzey, Warren G. (1985-07-05). "Questions about Primate Diet: Food Acquisition and Processing in Primates". Science. 229 (4708): 42–43. doi:10.1126/science.229.4708.42. PMID 17795126.
  4. ^ Rodman, Peter S. (1981-08-07). "Primate Socioecology: Malayan Forest Primates. Ten Years' Study in Tropical Rain Forest". Science. 213 (4508): 642–643. doi:10.1126/science.213.4508.642.
  5. ^ "Academic Research Reading: Personalised Research Discovery - R Discovery". discovery.researcher.life. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  6. ^ Teaford, Mark (1987). "Primate ecology and functional morphology. Review of Food Acquisition and Processing in Primates, edited by David J. Chivers, Bernard A. Wood, and Alan Bilsborough". American Journal of Primatology. 12: 235–237. doi:10.1002/ajp.1350120212 – via Wiley.
  7. ^ a b "History". Primate Society of Great Britain. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  8. ^ a b Fleagle, John G. (1976). Chivers, David J. (ed.). "The Siamang in Malaya". Evolution. 30 (1): 196–197. doi:10.2307/2407691. ISSN 0014-3820. JSTOR 2407691.
  9. ^ a b "Guest blog: Dr David Chivers". Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  10. ^ Hastings, Chris; Jamieson, Alistair (23 August 2008). "Amorous gibbons keep neighbours awake". The Telegraph.
  11. ^ Mirror.co.uk (2008-08-24). "Frisky apes are gibbon noise 'Asbo'". The Mirror. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  12. ^ Robert Whitaker (2013-05-31). Dr Chivers performs his gibbon calls. Retrieved 2025-11-14 – via YouTube.
  13. ^ a b "Conservationists torn over how to save orangutans - Taipei Times". www.taipeitimes.com. 2009-04-27. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  14. ^ "Vanished ape found in ancient Chinese tomb, giving clues to its disappearance". www.science.org. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  15. ^ Shannon, Joel. "Extinct gibbon discovered in an ancient tomb. It might have been a pet". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  16. ^ a b Puspa (2009-04-28). "The Great Ape Debate". Orangutan Foundation. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  17. ^ "Jeremy Griffith talks with anthropologist Dr David Chivers". World Transformation Movement. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  18. ^ Admin, B. N. F. (2017-12-08). "BNF joined the PSGB 50th anniversary". Borneo Nature Foundation. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  19. ^ "Twycross Zoo remembers its founders with blue plaques". Twycross Zoo. Retrieved 2025-11-14.
  20. ^ Chivers, David (1983). "Book Review: A Complete Guide to Monkeys, Apes and other Primates" (PDF). Oryx. 18 (2): 120–121. doi:10.1017/S003060530001886X – via www.Cambridge.org.
  21. ^ Chivers, David J. (1980), Chivers, David J. (ed.), "Introduction", Malayan Forest Primates: Ten Years’ Study in Tropical Rain Forest, Boston, MA: Springer US, pp. 1–28, doi:10.1007/978-1-4757-0878-3_1, ISBN 978-1-4757-0878-3, retrieved 2025-11-14
  22. ^ Chivers, David J.; Wood, Bernard A.; Bilsborough, Alan (2013-03-09). Food Acquisition and Processing in Primates. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-1-4757-5244-1.
  23. ^ Preuschoft, Holger; Chivers, David J. (2012-12-06). Hands of Primates. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-3-7091-6914-8.
  24. ^ Chivers, David (1 January 1976). "Communication Within and Between Family Groups of Siamang (Symphalangus Syndactylus)". Behaviour. 57 (1–2): 116–135. doi:10.1163/156853976X00136 – via Brill.
  25. ^ Chivers, David (February 1979). "The primates of peninsular Malaysia". Nature. 277 (5696): 433. Bibcode:1979Natur.277..433C. doi:10.1038/277433a0. ISSN 1476-4687.
  26. ^ Chivers, David J.; McConkey, Kim R. (2024-07-26), Lambert, Joanna E.; Bryer, Margaret A. H.; Rothman, Jessica M. (eds.), "Introduction: From Diets to Disturbance: The Evolution of Primate Feeding Studies", How Primates Eat: A Synthesis of Nutritional Ecology across a Mammal Order, University of Chicago Press, pp. 1–18, doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226829746-003/pdf?licensetype=restricted&srsltid=afmbooqsro-xnmuyak8dc0i_sqljzvgmxxa_1p8hbtnmvhuwzxex-pl4 (inactive 29 December 2025), ISBN 978-0-226-82974-6, retrieved 2025-11-15{{citation}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of December 2025 (link)
  27. ^ Gibbons: The Forgotten Apes In Peril (2009) - Trailer, Cast & Reviews - Mabumbe. Retrieved 2025-11-15 – via mabumbe.com.
  28. ^ "Gibbons: The Forgotten Apes in Peril | Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 2025-11-15.
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