Arun Rangsi and Shanti

 
Arun Rangsi as an adult.

The first laboratory gibbon to reach IPPL Headquarters was a sad little animal. Before he joined us, he didn't even have a name. He was born on 9 August 1979 in a California cancer laboratory which infected baby gibbons with cancer viruses. His mother rejected him at birth and he was found on the cage floor.

The baby was given the lab number "HLA-98" which was tattooed in blue on his chest. He was placed with a swinging wire surrogate mother - but a wire frame is no substitute for a real mother and poor little "HLA-98" fared very badly, suffering twice from pneumonia and twice from dysentery in his first year of life. Luckily the lab closed down in 1981. "HLA-98" was slated to be put to sleep as nobody wanted him. Except IPPL, which offered him a forever home.

On 9 August 1981, his second birthday, "HLA-98" arrived at IPPL Headquarters. We gave him a Thai name, Arun Rangsi ("The Rising Sun of Dawn"). He was very tiny, he banged his head constantly and he was absolutely terrified of people. After lots of love and hard work, he stopped his head-banging and became very affectionate with his human caregivers. Since his arrival he has never had a day's illness.

Arun Rangsi enjoyed playing with other gibbons (see "Helen and Peppy"), but we knew he needed a female companion of his own because, unlike most primates which live in groups, gibbons live in monogamous pairs for life. Then the director of the New York laboratory offered to give us Shanti, a female born at the lab three years earlier.

Arun Rangsi and Shanti relaxing

In February 1983 Shirley McGreal and animal caregiver Kathy drove to New York to collect Shanti. She was living in a small cage alongside her elderly parents' cage, and Shirley resolved that one day Shanti's "senior citizen" parents would also come and join us at IPPL.

Shanti was a very long thin gibbon. When she arrived, her arms, legs and belly had been shaved. She looked very strange. She was twice Arun Rangsi's size and could easily beat him up! Fortunately, Shanti has a very "laid-back" disposition and turned out to be the perfect companion for the highly-strung Arun Rangsi.

Arun Rangsi and Shanti raised a family of lovely young gibbons, until Arun Rangsi was successfully vasectomized. We named their first child, a boy gibbon, Ahimsa.

Arun Rangsi - 30 years old in 2009