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Icicles at IPPL
Yesterday the South Carolina Lowcountry endured an ice storm that made our roads treacherous, closed the airport, and shut down schools and government offices throughout the region. This same system wreaked havoc in many parts of the southeastern U.S., as far away as Texas, Virginia, and Florida. Our governor declared a state of emergency.…
Peppy and the gibbons who got away
Our gibbon Peppy, who celebrated his 35th birthday yesterday, was born at a cancer lab at the University of California at Davis in 1979. The laboratory used gibbons in painful and usually fatal viral cancer experiments. But Peppy was “The Gibbon Who Got Away.” The virus they gave him didn’t make him sick. …
U.S. primate import statistics for 2013
After four straight years of decline, the number of primates imported into the U.S. unfortunately increased by 8.5 percent over last year’s figure, according to preliminary data IPPL has been able to obtain from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Last year, according to revised data we received on April 8, 2013, the U.S. imported…
Courtney’s birthday bash
Today Courtney turns 12 years old. In honor of her last pre-teen birthday, our staff constructed a nifty new enrichment device we hoped would engage those devious little brain cells. The apparatus consists of a series of nesting plastic cups strung together on a vertical PVC pole. Each cup can contain a variety of…
Winter-time indoor fun
When it stays colder than 50 degrees (F) outside, we keep the gibbons nice and warm in their indoor night quarters throughout the day. They don’t always appreciate our consideration for their comfort, however! Many of them (“Maynard, Chloe, Gus, Scrappy, Dianne—and especially Courtney,” says our caregiver Samantha) get cranky at being cooped up. It’s…
Celebrating Monkey Day 2013
This past Saturday, December 14, was International Monkey Day, and in honor of IPPL’s 40th anniversary year we decided to monkey around with a FUNdraiser we called “Painting for Primates.” It took place at the nearby West Ashley Wine and Design studio, which often sponsors “Paint it Forward” events for local charities. We…
A rabbit-proof fence for our gibbon garden
Back in September, a group of kids from the University School of the Lowcountry volunteered at IPPL’s sanctuary as part of the Trident United Way Day of Caring. Their main project was to plant some raised-beds with veggies for our gibbons. We wanted to try out these pilot plots to see if we could feasibly…
Painting for Primates on International Monkey Day
If you’re going to be around the South Carolina Lowcountry next week, please join us for a “Paint it Forward” event at West Ashley Wine and Design, 1331 Ashley River Road, Charleston, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 14—which also happens to be International Monkey Day! For $35 you will have the opportunity…
A drill monkey tracker turns filmmaker
Drill monkeys might be the world’s largest monkeys. We’re actually not 100 percent sure because there has been so little fieldwork done on these enigmatic primates. They are hard to keep in captivity and even harder to find in the wild. These close relatives of the similarly-sized mandrill live only in the forests…
Remembering the Taiping Four gorilla case
Every two years IPPL holds a conference for our supporters, and we bring in speakers working for primates around the world. In 2002, our meeting was held at IPPL Headquarters March from 22 to 24. I thought you might like to know how a “tip-off” led to a long investigation that had worldwide ripples. The…
Women to watch
Every year our town paper, the Summerville Journal Scene, carries a special section on local “Women to Watch.” Ten women representing a wide variety of occupations are chosen for this honor. This year, the recipients included, a single mom who battled poverty to start her own law firm, the director of an award-winning bed and…
Scarecrows on the Square 2013
Every year at Halloween, the small town of Summerville invites local nonprofits and businesses to build scarecrows to exhibit in the town square. Well over 50 exhibits are on display this year. The square is always crowded with excited children and adults. Thousands of people visit the scarecrows every year. It’s especially pleasant at night…
Volunteer spotlight: Susan Parker
It’s been like a nine-year “alternative spring break” for Susan Parker: she has been making the six-hour drive from her home in Norfolk, Virginia, to help out at the IPPL sanctuary for a week at a time ever since 2004. This month really does mark the ninth anniversary of her first visit here. On that…
Halloween treats from Oz
We’ve been enjoying a return visit of zookeeper Sophie Miller, from Australia (a.k.a. “Oz”). She very fond of gibbons and last visited us two years ago with a couple of her fellow gibbon-loving friends from Down Under. She also enjoys Halloween and related phenomena (like vampires). Today she suggested that our gibbons might like some…
It’s pumpkin time!
Many of our gibbons, we’ve learned, really enjoy pumpkins. Not only do they like to eat the raw squash itself, but they also like nibbling the on the seeds. So here are some of our favorite punkin pics from the last couple of days….
“Kindred Beings”
This week’s post is written by guest blogger Sheri Speede, DVM, the founder/director of In Defense of Animals-Africa and its Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center in Cameroon. She has just written a memoir, titled Kindred Beings: What Seventy-Three Chimpanzees Taught Me About Life, Love and Connection. Check out the book’s Web site and Facebook page for…
Days of Caring, 2013
What could be better than one Day of Caring? Two Days of Caring, of course! This annual volunteer blitz—which is organized by our Trident United Way—has been expanding over the years. On September 11, 2001, the Day of Caring also became a way to for people in our area to come together in community and…
A garden for gibbons
Today we had a great group of kids come out to our sanctuary and plant some winter veggies for our gibbons. Their project was part of the annual Trident United Way volunteer bonanza known as the Day of Caring. The kids are from the University School of the Lowcountry, and their school has sent…
