Val

Val was born at a wildlife park in southern Florida where he lived with his parents and a couple of siblings. We got a call in late 2017 asking if we could take in Val and his father, Snowy, after the facility suffered extensive damage from hurricane Irma and fell on hard times. A couple of staff members drove down to Florida and brought Val back to IPPL in November of 2017. As soon as we got Val settled into his new night house he showed what a sweet and trusting gibbon he is by immediately presenting his back to the animal care givers present, looking for some attention and reassurance. Needless to say we fell in love with him right away!

When Val first got to IPPL he was a little unsure of his new surroundings and would spend most of his time inside his night house as opposed to swinging around his enclosure. After some one-on-one time with members of the animal care team and lots of tasty treats being placed in his aerial runway, Val got the courage to venture outside and quickly realized how enjoyable all this new space could be. Now he spends most of his day zipping around his enclosure at top speeds and running up and down his runway, spying on his new neighbors. He likes being outside so much sometimes he doesn’t want to go back inside when the staff comes around at the end of the day to put the gibbons up for the night!