International Primate Protection League

               ~ Spanky working hard with his jar enrichment ~                                                 ~ Erin with a tasty Kebab ~                                                  ~ Val using his big brain with his box enrichment ~

♦ IPPL'S PAST AND PRESENT ♦

While living in Thailand, Shirley witnessed firsthand the cruelty and abject apathy that some people show toDurgaTing Tong primates. The sight immediately sparked what would become a lifelong passion and a need to fight for primates who couldn't fight for themselves, a passion she would eventually share with others when she founded IPPL.

She founded the International Primate Protection League in 1973 and, a few years later, created our Headquarters Sanctuary in South Carolina. Some of the first gibbons she rescued were from laboratories, roadside attractions, or the illegal pet trade. Some of these gibbons included Ting Tong, Durga, Arun Rangsi, & Shanti. She continued to rescue many more gibbons from fates just like theirs, with the final one before her passing in 2021 being Gideon in 2019.

ShantiOver the years, close to 60 gibbons have been welcomed to our sanctuary with open arms and Arun Rangsiloving hearts. Here at IPPL, we are able to give them the best life possible.

We work very hard to provide every single gibbon with the most compassionate care we can, using individual care plans catered to their needs. We take into consideration their past, their size, their age, and any medical complications they may have. They live in spacious indoor and outdoor enclosures and get enrichment multiple times a day to keep their minds and bodies active.

                ~ Robbie munching on clovers ~                                 ~ Gary & Dianne sharing enrichment ~                     ~Courtney basking in bamboo browse ~

♥ IPPL'S NEXT PROJECT ♥

SIZE & SCALE

The habitat will cover 2,000 square feet and measure a height of over 20 feet. That's nearly double the vertical space our gibbons currently have and will allow them to explore a true canopy that will emulate their habitat in Thailand.

(Watercolor by Barbara Ratner)

THE VERTICAL FOREST

The interior of the enclosure will be anchored in place by large, strategically placed structural posts that will act as the "trunks" of the trees in our forests. These posts will provide the foundations for the complex intertwined web of furniture, ropes, platforms, bamboo, and fire-hose swings that we will be able to customize and rotate to keep the environment fresh and engaging for all of our gibbons.

 

DESIGNED FOR THE GOLDEN YEARS OF GIBBONS

Because our gibbons are predominantly geriatric, the design focuses on Senior-Friendly safety and comfort. We will mimic the intricacies of a natural rainforest canopy using high-grip, durable materials as well as carefully planned pathways that will allow our older gibbons to climb and swing with confidence in their security and safety.

A FORAGING GARDEN: FOR THE GOURMET GIBBON

Unlike the floors in the current outdoor enclosures we have, the floor of the new habitat will be natural earth opposed to concrete. We will plant native non-toxic flora and bushes that will be incorporated into the gibbons' nutrition plans, allowing them to forage to their hearts' content. The indoor sanctuary adjacent to the forest will be a modernized indoor facility, the foundation of which has fortunately already been laid. By increasing our enclosure height from 11 feet to over 20 feet, we will be giving the gibbons a much more natural and enriching space to brachiate in and move as they would if they were in the wild. The ground will simply be the forest floor.

THE TWO-YEAR VISION

We plan to build the new enclosures in stages, completing one outdoor enclosure at a time. We hope to have both multispecies habitats fully completed and inhabited within the next two years. This timeline allows us to meticulously install the complex individualized brachiation furniture for all of our gibbons.

Over the years, our IPPL friends have been extremely generous in supporting us, particularly with special needs such as repairs after a hurricane, building new gibbon houses and outdoor enclosures, providing a new kitchen for gibbon meal and enrichment prep, and updating our clinic. Everything we have done over the years has allowed our gibbons to thrive to ages that are outside the average for a gibbon. Gibby lived to be 66, and Scrappy is 52. This project will help enhance our gibbons' lives and allow us to rescue more in the future!

DONATE

Help our gibbons by making a donation today!

THANK YOU!