Primate protection

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International Primate Protection League

On the outskirts of Summerville in the lightly populated residential area of Knightsville, the International Primate Protection League has been a safe haven for gibbons since 1977. Dr. Shirley McGreal, who founded the organization in 1973, has been on a mission of helping primates since living in Thailand in the early 1970s.

The conversation of 32 gibbons can get quite lively, and the song of the small apes can lend a jungle flavor to the wooded areas of Dorchester County.

On the outskirts of Summerville in the lightly populated residential area of Knightsville, the International Primate Protection League has been a safe haven for gibbons since 1977.

Dr. Shirley McGreal, who founded the organization in 1973, has been on a mission of helping primates since living in Thailand in the early 1970s.

"I saw the abuse of the animals. Gibbons, when they're crated, give you this awful look," she said. "I just decided to start a group called the International Primate Protection League."

It was a life-changing experience for McGreal, who said she never considered herself an animal activist beforehand. Her doctorate is in history, not one of the life sciences.

"I saw a lot of monkeys, but I wasn't particularly interested in them," she said.

She pitched her idea to several friends and acquaintances who could lend their expertise and found the support she needed to establish the organization. Since then, the league has waged a worldwide campaign to stop the abuse of primates by way of poaching, illegal zoos or medical testing.

In 1977, her husband, John, got a job at Trident Technical College, and it gave the couple an opportunity to look around and decide that they could create a permanent facility in Knightsville to house rescued gibbons.

"The climate's perfect for us," she said. "There are facilities in Florida where in the summer, the air is thick with mosquitoes. We get a few cold days, but they're good for us. It kills off the fleas. The gibbons stay indoors just a few days really."

On more than 5 acres of property, 32 gibbons are paired off in large, open cages filled with ropes, tree limbs and steel bars to swing on. Each cage includes a fenced tunnel that leads to an indoor facility where the apes can sleep or escape from inclement weather. McGreal said gibbons live as monogamous pairs, and if she put more than two in a cage, they would fight each other to establish dominance.

The pairing is more for company. For the gibbons, the league is interested only in rescue and preserving habitat. Repopulation of the hunted species is not a viable goal.

"We don't breed them here because we don't want to produce babies who will be captive for life, and there's no way right now to release them back into the wild," she said. "Rehabilitation is very difficult for primates. You just try to give them compassionate care. The important thing is to stop them from getting shot in the wild in the first place."

McGreal can walk through her facility and greet all of her apes by name and give the history of each one without hesitation. The gibbons have come from across the United States from laboratories and zoos. In the case of the former lab animals, who in some cases were subjects of AIDS research, McGreal talks about giving them a comfortable place to live out their days.

"They deserve to be able to retire," she said.

She acknowledges her facility isn't as perfect a solution as being able to place them in the wild. But because the apes wouldn't be equipped to survive in the jungle, McGreal said, she focuses on doing the best she can for them.

"In that regard, I have to think that at least it's better than what they came from," she said.

The gibbons she gets from zoos usually were too sick or did not have the temperament to stay there.

"They could euthanize them for $5, so I never blame them because they're trying to find a home and we have a good reputation," McGreal said.

McGreal said the league operates on a budget of about $1 million, which pays for the care of the gibbons and the salaries of three full-time and three part-time employees and allows them to help fund other efforts while raising awareness of abuse around the world. The league awarded more than $100,000 in grant money to various primate-protection organizations in 2008.

The organization is funded through membership dues, foundation grants and inheritances. As impressive as the gibbon facility in Knightsville is, McGreal said expanding it is not a primary concern.

"Our goal (here) isn't to be enormous, because our goal is to help organizations overseas," McGreal said.

Contact Bill Henley at 745-5865.