Name: Igor     ADOPT ME!
Sex: Male
Born: 1956 (estimated)
Favorite food: Apples (he has been seen grabbing an apple away from a cheeky squirrel that had stolen it out of the lunch pail!)
Favorite activity: Getting visits from his human friends.

Igor was born in the wild but ended up spending a total of 26 years in research facilities. He had lived at a drug company laboratory before being sent to the New York Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP), where he resided for 21 years. At some point, he developed a bizarre behavior: whenever he caught sight of another gibbon, he would start biting his own arms, inflicting terrible wounds. As a result, he had to live in a cage covered with black Plexiglas. Every now and then he would scratch the paint off the Plexiglas, see another gibbon, and attack himself.

In 1987, the lab veterinarian where Igor lived phoned IPPL. Dr. Jim Mahoney was for years IPPL’s primate specialist consulting vet. He discussed Igor’s psychological problems and asked if the little research veteran could come to IPPL’s South Carolina sanctuary and finally enjoy a peaceful retirement. Of course we agreed, and IPPL members generously contributed funds for a special house to be built in a remote corner of the IPPL property, where Igor could live out of sight—but within earshot—of the other resident gibbons.

Since his arrival, he has not attacked himself once, even though by now he has gibbon neighbors he can see. Our caregivers spend extra time with him daily (they like brushing his hair). Igor also likes watching educational TV and as well as the birds and other wildlife that wander past from the nearby woods (except maybe pesky squirrels!). He enjoys human visitors and seems especially fascinated by children.