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Saudi Arabia Establishes Royal Institute of Anthropology to Study Social Change

The establishment of the institute provides a scientific platform for documenting heritage and deepening awareness of local culture through anthropological research. (SPA)
The establishment of the institute provides a scientific platform for documenting heritage and deepening awareness of local culture through anthropological research. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Establishes Royal Institute of Anthropology to Study Social Change

The establishment of the institute provides a scientific platform for documenting heritage and deepening awareness of local culture through anthropological research. (SPA)
The establishment of the institute provides a scientific platform for documenting heritage and deepening awareness of local culture through anthropological research. (SPA)

Saudi Arabia has approved the establishment of the Royal Institute of Anthropology and Cultural Studies, marking a significant step toward expanding research on Saudi society and documenting its social transformations.

The institute, approved by the Saudi Cabinet on Tuesday, is expected to strengthen scholarly work related to the study of Saudi communities through rigorous scientific methods.

Saudi Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al Saud welcomed the decision and thanked the Kingdom’s leadership for supporting the initiative.

He said the institute would serve as “a trusted narrator of our culture and a beacon of inspiration in studies that seek to understand humanity.”

Prince Badr added that the institute would provide a scientific platform for documenting Saudi heritage and deepening awareness of local culture through anthropological research. He noted that its work would help generate meaningful cultural insights and encourage cultural exchange with the wider world.

Saudi Arabia holds particular significance in anthropology and cultural studies because of its deep historical and civilizational heritage, which stretches back centuries.

The Kingdom is also characterized by wide cultural, social and regional diversity reflected in lifestyles, customs and traditions, language and oral expression, as well as literature, performing arts, architecture, visual arts, culinary traditions and fashion. Together, these elements provide rich material for academic study, analysis and documentation.

The institute will develop both academic and applied research in anthropology and cultural studies. Its work will include examining local communities, patterns of daily life, symbolic systems, social transformations and forms of cultural expression across the Kingdom.

It will also document both tangible and intangible cultural heritage within their social and historical contexts, including the knowledge systems, practices and values associated with them. The aim is to provide a comprehensive scientific understanding of cultural elements as part of the living human experience.

Observers and academics say the decision also reflects a shift in attitudes toward anthropology in Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Hamza bin Qablan Al-Mozainy said the institute’s establishment demonstrates growing recognition of the field’s importance. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, he noted that anthropology once faced strong resistance in academic circles.

He cited the experience of Dr. Saad Al-Sowayan, one of the Kingdom’s pioneering anthropologists, who encountered opposition when he attempted to introduce the discipline in universities. As a result, Al-Sowayan carried out much of his research outside academic institutions, producing influential studies on Saudi society.

Al-Mozainy said Saudi society remains insufficiently studied, making it a rich field for future anthropological research. He added that the discipline helps societies better understand themselves and address both their strengths and their challenges.

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Varieties

Kenya Arrests Man Trying to Smuggle Over 2,000 Live Ants in his Luggage

People arriving at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), in Nairobi, Kenya, on 06 March 2026. EPA/DANIEL IRUNGU
People arriving at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), in Nairobi, Kenya, on 06 March 2026. EPA/DANIEL IRUNGU
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Kenya Arrests Man Trying to Smuggle Over 2,000 Live Ants in his Luggage

People arriving at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), in Nairobi, Kenya, on 06 March 2026. EPA/DANIEL IRUNGU
People arriving at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), in Nairobi, Kenya, on 06 March 2026. EPA/DANIEL IRUNGU

A man was arrested with more than 2,200 live garden ants in his luggage at Nairobi's main airport this week amid a rise in cases of smuggling of the insects in Kenya.

Chinese national Zhang Kequn, 27, was arrested at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on Tuesday while he was trying to leave the country, court filings seen by Reuters on Thursday showed. Immigration officials flagged a "stop order" on Zhang's passport after he ⁠evaded arrest in ⁠Kenya last year.

Ant aficionados pay large sums to maintain colonies in large transparent vessels known as formicariums, which offer a literal window into the species' complex social structures and behaviors.

Last year four men were fined $7,700 each ⁠for trying to traffic thousands of ants valuable to Kenya's ecosystem in a case that experts said signaled a shift in biopiracy from trophies like elephant ivory to lesser-known species.

Investigators said a search of Zhang's luggage recovered 2,238 ants, including 1,948 packed in test tubes and the rest in three rolls of "soft tissue papers".

They said Zhang had been in Kenya for ⁠two ⁠weeks and had mentioned three accomplices who supplied him with the ants.

The Kenya Wildlife Service told the court that it needed more time to complete investigations, including examining an iPhone and a MacBook recovered from Zhang.

The wildlife service said a similar consignment of ants had been seized in Bangkok on Tuesday that originated from Kenya, indicating the existence of a widespread and organized ant-smuggling network.

Varieties

King Penguins Are the Rare Species Benefiting from Warming World. But that Could Change

In this photo provided by Gaël Bardon, part of the king penguin colony is visible at La Baie du Marin, Possession Island, Crozet Archipelago, Jan. 16, 2026. (Gaël Bardon/CSM/CNRS/IPEV via AP)
In this photo provided by Gaël Bardon, part of the king penguin colony is visible at La Baie du Marin, Possession Island, Crozet Archipelago, Jan. 16, 2026. (Gaël Bardon/CSM/CNRS/IPEV via AP)
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King Penguins Are the Rare Species Benefiting from Warming World. But that Could Change

In this photo provided by Gaël Bardon, part of the king penguin colony is visible at La Baie du Marin, Possession Island, Crozet Archipelago, Jan. 16, 2026. (Gaël Bardon/CSM/CNRS/IPEV via AP)
In this photo provided by Gaël Bardon, part of the king penguin colony is visible at La Baie du Marin, Possession Island, Crozet Archipelago, Jan. 16, 2026. (Gaël Bardon/CSM/CNRS/IPEV via AP)

The warming world has disrupted the timing for plant and animal reproduction, and it's usually bad news for species that depend on each other — like flowers blooming too early and pollinating bees arriving too late. But researchers have found the rare critter that's getting a boost from the change: King penguins.

A new study of 19,000 king penguins in a sub-Antarctic island chain found their breeding is starting 19 days earlier than it did in 2000. Mating earlier has increased the breeding success rate by 40%, according to a study in Wednesday's journal Science Advances.

The study of timing in nature is called phenology. It's been a major concern for biologists because predators and prey and pollinators and plants are mostly adapting to warmer climates at different rates. And that means crucial mismatches in timing.

It's especially common in birds and pollinating species such as bees. Most birds, especially in North America, aren't keeping pace with changes in phenology, according to Clemson University biological sciences professor Casey Youngflesh, who wasn't part of the study.

Having a species like the king penguin adapt so well to seasonal shifts and timing changes “is unprecedented,” said study co-author Celine Le Bohec, a seabird ecologist at the French science agency CNRS. “It's quite striking.”

Unlike other penguins — which are threatened with dwindling numbers because of earlier breeding — the king penguin has the ability to breed from late October to March. And they are taking advantage of that flexibility, Le Bohec said.

They are succeeding even though the water is warming and the food web that they rely on is changing with it, said Le Bohec and study lead author Gaël Bardon, a seabird ecologist at the Scientific Centre of Monaco.

“They can adjust really well their foraging behavior,” Bardon said. “We know that some birds are going directly to the south, to the polar front. Some are going to the north. Some are staying around the colony and so they can adjust their behavior and that’s what makes king penguins cope really well with such changes for the moment.”

Le Bohec added that it may only be a temporary adjustment to an environment that is changing quickly. "So that’s why for the moment the species is able to cope with this change, but till when? This, we don’t know, because it’s going very, very fast.”

Other penguins that have limited diets are more threatened by changes coming from a warming ocean and the makeup of the food chain. But king penguins — which are so abundant they are considered a species of least concern — can eat other prey besides the lanternfish that makes up their primary diet, researchers said.

“The king penguin may have a bit of flexibility as a trick up its sleeve, and may be in a good position to adapt as their environment changes,” said Michelle LaRue, a professor of Antarctic marine science at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand who was not part of the study. But she said she wonders what happens after breeding because king penguins live 20 or more years in the wild and this study looks at only a small part of their lifespan.

Outside scientists are just as cautious as Le Bohec and Bardon over whether to declare the king penguins a rare good-news climate change story.

“Winning for this species might mean losing for another species if they are competing for resources,” The Associated Press quoted Clemson's Youngflesh as saying.

Ignacio Juarez Martinez, a biologist at Oxford University in the United Kingdom, who conducted a study of different penguins with earlier breeding, said: “This study shows that king penguins might be a winner for now, which is excellent news, but climate change is ongoing and future changes to currents, precipitation or temperatures can undo these gains.”

Varieties

Study: Despite Reputation, Bonobos Are Aggressive

A chimpanzee looks on at the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, where rescued primates are rehabilitated in Western Area Peninsula National Park, Sierra Leone, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
A chimpanzee looks on at the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, where rescued primates are rehabilitated in Western Area Peninsula National Park, Sierra Leone, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
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Study: Despite Reputation, Bonobos Are Aggressive

A chimpanzee looks on at the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, where rescued primates are rehabilitated in Western Area Peninsula National Park, Sierra Leone, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
A chimpanzee looks on at the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary, where rescued primates are rehabilitated in Western Area Peninsula National Park, Sierra Leone, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu)

Historically considered a more peaceful species than their chimpanzee cousins, bonobos are actually just as aggressive -- but target their ire most often at males, according to a study published Wednesday.

Living in matriarchal societies, the gentle-eyed primates once dubbed "hippy apes" are far from violence-free, a group of European researchers reported in the journal Science Advances.

They studied 13 groups of bonobos and nine groups of chimpanzees -- who conversely live in patriarchal systems and are well known for their aggressivity -- in zoos, seeking to find out which is more prone to attacks.

Measuring different types of aggressive behavior, both physical and not -- such as throwing objects, intimidation, or biting and slapping -- they found "no overall differences in absolute aggression rates between the two species."

However, differences emerged "in how the aggression is distributed among group members," co-author Nicky Staes told AFP.

"In chimpanzees aggression mostly comes from males and is directed towards both males and females, whereas in bonobos aggression levels are quite equal in both sexes but are mostly directed at males," she said.

Emile Bryon, another co-author, said that, as bonobos live in female-dominant groups, the fact that both females and males direct most of their aggression toward males surprised researchers.

"Dominant individuals compete amongst each other for resources," he said, so "one could expect aggression among bonobo females. But our study says otherwise."

The relative lack of aggression among female bonobos could be explained by the species' well-studied use of sex to defuse conflicts, or the aggression may be "redirected towards males, who become buffers in the females' competitive dynamics," Bryon said.

The authors noted limitations to their findings due to the apes living in captivity, where food is not as much of a source of tension, but highlighted the variability of aggressiveness in both species.

Some groups of bonobos and chimpanzees appeared particularly prone to violence and others more peaceful, which "suggests that limiting our understanding of a species to a handful of groups can prevent grasping the full species-wide diversity in behavioral expressions," said Bryon.

As our closest primate relatives, the behavior of chimpanzees and bonobos are of particular interest to science.

"There is big debate in evolutionary anthropology whether humans descended from a violent ape or a more cooperative, peaceful one," Staes explained.

The new study suggests that "aggression was likely present in the common ancestor of humans, chimpanzees, and bonobos."

They also show that aggression can vary widely among apes, said Bryon.

"Recognizing this variation and understanding its roots suggests that it can be better understood, managed, and even reduced."