Carolus Philippus "Carel" van Schaik (born 15 June 1953, Rotterdam)[1] is a Dutch primatologist who since 2004 is professor and director of the Anthropological Institute and Museum at the University of Zürich, Switzerland.
Van Schaik studied biology at the University of Utrecht, graduating in 1979.
In 2007 Van Schaik became a correspondent of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Soon after, van Schaik become always more interested to the monkeys that to the plants, and when in the north-western part of Sumatra he comes upon in the marshy region of the Suaq, he finally meets his orangutans.
His book Among Orangutans: Red Apes and the Rise of Human Culture tells the story of his discovery of a group of orangutans in northern Sumatra and the challenge their tool use and sociality pose to theories of primatology and the insights they offer into key moments in human evolution.