Name: Michael
Sex: Male
Born: 1989 (estimated)
Favorite food: Celery.
Favorite activity: Chasing birds that perch in the Manhattan tree next to his cage.

Michael was born at IPPL to Arun Rangsi and Shanti. He has not yet been paired with a female gibbon at this point, as IPPL has somewhat more males than females.

He likes celery and other veggies—but, actually, he likes just about everything and is always glad to accept any leftovers after the lunchtime feeding. Our animal caregivers push the food cart on the walkway that passes within a few feet from Michael’s long run, and by now he seems to have trained our animal staff to feed him both coming and going. He also likes to pick his own grapes, since his enclosure is surrounded by a prolific muscadine grape vine. (Fortunately he has a healthy metabolism—he’s not a portly gibbon).

He is very sweet, with a personality like his laid-back mother Shanti, and never grabby. He likes sunbathing in his aerial mesh runway, drinking from the hose, and having his back scratched by his human friends. Interestingly, he is our quietest gibbon and hardly ever sings, though our senior caregiver Donetta has seen him “lip-synch” when the other gibbons are singing.

He got a vasectomy in September 2010, so he’s now ready for action—when the right gibbon gal comes along!