Gary

Gary, arrived at IPPL in May 2013. He came with his mate, Kendra, a daughter, and a son from a tourist attraction that was closing. Gary is a petite, blond gibbon with lustrous, pale fur. When he arrived, we could hardly believe that he was the dad, and that great big Thai was his son because Thai was twice Gary’s size!

We soon learned that this petite gibbon had brittle bones and a broken arm. A specialist from Illinois felt it had stabilized and no surgery was required. Unfortunately, he broke the other arm; it was beyond repair and had to be amputated. But being an amputee has not slowed this adorable little gibbon down at all. Gary is quite the acrobat, and gracefully flips, spins, and twirls all over his outdoor enclosure – making the most of every day.

Animal care staff members have seen nearby gibbons attempting to imitate Gary’s uniquely smooth moves, especially the ones with lots of arm action. Unfortunately, they are not nearly as successful in completing Gary’s peculiar pirouettes. While he is very shy around humans, Gary will always come over and interact with the animal care staff if they have fresh mango with them, as that is his favorite food. He will eat it so quickly that for the rest of the day he will have mango smeared all over his face!

Gary and Kendra lived together until she died in 2015. He remained single until March 2022 when he and his neighbor, Chloe, were introduced. The two were a happy pair enjoying each others companionship until Chloe passed away.