Remembering

Palu-Palu

A Sad Farwell to Our Sweet, Social Palu-Palu

Palu-Palu was wild caught, smuggled to Hawaii, and then purchased to be another pet of Sam Pryor. This former vice-president of Pan America airlines, kept a number of gibbons as pets. Pryor had asked IPPL to take all of his gibbons upon his death but unfortunately, he didn’t put his wishes down in writing. When…

Blue for Remembering page

An Unexpected Goodbye to Our Friend Blue

We have some very sad news to share with you. Blue, our beautiful Newfoundland, died unexpectedly after a swift and traumatic attack of bloat in June 12, 2021. He was rushed to a specialty clinic, but there was nothing that could be done. Blue had recently turned seven. Since Blue’s arrival at IPPL in August…

Elizabeth-with-Shirley

Farewell Elizabeth | Jan 20, 2021

Elizabeth was born at a tourist attraction in Florida in June 1984. Her gibbon family was living on an island in the Silver River and jungle cruise boats would pass by daily. One day, a cruise boat guide noticed a baby gibbon being neglected. Staff removed her from the island and, for a time, staff…

Gus

Farewell Gus | December 7, 2020

When Gus arrived at IPPL in 2007, we didn’t know much about his history. All the information we received was that he had been raised as a pet before he was given to a sanctuary in Texas in 1990. Once at IPPL, Gus quickly became one of our most impressive gibbons. He was a strapping…

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Farewell Cathy

Cathy was born in March of 2000. In 2007 she and her parents, Erin and Ziggy, arrived from a sanctuary in Texas. Cathy lived with her parents for five more years, but in 2012 it became clear that Cathy was ready to move on so we moved her to a gibbon house next to handsome…

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Goodbye to Our Dear Tong

We have some very sad news to share with you. Our dear Tong Gibbon died on September 29, 2020 at the age of 50. As a baby, Tong was purchased at a market in Cambodia by a man working for Air America, a CIA operation which flew planes on bombing missions over Laos and Cambodia.…

BLACKIE GIBBON

Farewell to Our Sweet Blackie

Our hearts broke when we had to say goodbye to sweet Blackie – our very special little gibbon. Blackie was born in the jungles of Thailand. Wild caught, he ended up with an animal dealer who exported him to the US where he would be used in research for the next 20 years! In 1984…

Arun Rangsi

Farewell Arun Rangsi

We are all devastated to report the loss of our first lab gibbon, Arun Rangsi (“Ruie”) who was also Shirley McGreal’s  “heart gibbon.” He came to IPPL from the University of California, which used gibbons in viral cancer experiments that caused them great suffering and death. Born at the lab in 1979, his mother rejected…

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Farewell Satu

It is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye to our beloved Satu otter. Satu, whose name means “one” in Malay, was born at the Singapore Zoological Gardens on April 4, 2001. In February of 2006, Satu and his brother Dua were sent to the Monterey Bay Aquarium where the two quickly became famous for…

October 10, 2018

Farewell Uma

Once again, we shared the sad news that another IPPL gibbon had left us. Umatilla, affectionately called Uma, who was born September 5, 1985. She came to IPPL in March of 2007 with her mate Scrappy. This duo arrived from a sanctuary in Texas after having been confiscated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service…

Bali

Goodbye, Sweet Bali

We are so sad to inform you that our dear, sweet Bali the otter has passed away.  Bali was born on August 8, 2003 at the Sunset Zoo in Kansas where he lived for a couple of years before he was transferred to the Columbus Zoo in Ohio. He came to IPPL in August of…

E.T.

Farewell E.T.

A Sad Farewell at IPPL Everyone at IPPL is devastated at the loss of our 33 year old gibbon E.T. She was born in April 1984 at the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates at Sterling Forest, New York. At six months of age, she and her parents Blackie and Penny reached IPPL…

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Farewell Dorothy

February 1, 2016 was a special day for a petite white-handed gibbon named Dorothy. It was the day she arrived at IPPL. After spending the last 40 years in in a northern zoo, and her mate had died, she was retired to the peaceful surroundings of our sanctuary and the company of other gibbons. After…

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Farewell Helen

Helen arrived at IPPL in April of 1982. Originally she was intended to be a companion for Arun Rangsi but, when John McGreal went to pick her up at the now-defunct Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates in New York, there was a boy gibbon named Peppy in the next cage who was…

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Farewell Kendra

Sweet Kendra was born at a Florida tourist attraction in 2000. She, her younger brother and parents lived there until 2013 when the facility closed and they needed a new home. It was wonderful news for this gibbon family and IPPL was thrilled to welcome them to our sanctuary. Life at IPPL was wonderful for…

glenda

Farewell Glenda

Glenda came to IPPL on May 13, 2013 along with her family: her mate Gary, their daughter Kendra, and son Thai. A Silver Springs, Florida tourist attraction where she and Gary had lived most of their lives was being turned into a State Park. It was urgent that 450 animals, including four gibbons, be re-located…

Igor singing.

Farewell Igor

Igor was born in the wild, but spent 26 years in two research facilities. In 1987, he was allowed to “retire” to IPPL, but he came with mental issues.  During his years in research he became a self-mutilator, hurting himself whenever he saw another gibbon. As a result, he was forced to live isolated behind…

Blue and Tong

Blue and Tong

When Blue was a young puppy he met Tong, the last of the gibbons that Shirley brought back from Thailand. They formed a special bond that is obvious in this adorable video. Both are now deceased, but we wanted to keep the memories of these unique, playful friends.