Name: Donny
Sex: Male
Born: October 15, 1989
Favorite food: Bamboo leaves from freshly-cut stalks, grown on the IPPL grounds.
Favorite activity: Wrestling with E.T.

Donny was born at a zoo in Michigan. In April 1993, he was sent with his brother Johnnie to a zoo in Ohio, where Johnnie died at a young age. Donny was then sent to a zoo in Indiana in July 1994. His life there was very difficult, as he was placed with other gibbons who attacked him mercilessly. He received a two-inch-long wound above his right eye that became infected. The next attack produced a bad wound under his left eye. Next he received a two-inch rip on the right side of his scrotum. He also received several wounds on his hands.

Understandably, Donny became depressed and spent a lot of time sitting on the cage floor. His next move came in 1998, when he was transferred to a small zoo in northern Wisconsin, where he lived with a female called Goblin until she died of cancer in 2000. After that time Donny was housed alone. Because of the cold climate, he seldom had a chance to go outdoors. Prior to his departure for IPPL, the zoo’s director told IPPL, “We were unable to spend much or any time interacting with him (very short- staffed).”

In early 2001, IPPL was asked to provide a “forever home” for Donny, and in June of that year he reached the IPPL sanctuary. He settled down really well and now lives happily with E.T., a former lab gibbon. He’ll readily come over to see what’s on offer, whenever our staff hands out treats. He’ll dig down through a baggie of plain Cheerios to reach the brightly-colored Froot Loops at the bottom!