- Name: Arun Rangsi (Thai - "The Rising Sun of Dawn")
- Type: White Handed Gibbon
- Gender: Male
- Mate: Shanti
- Children: Ahimsa (male. born Nov 23rd, 1985)
- Birthday: August 9th, 1979
- Birthplace: University of California, Davis - Oncology Lab
- Distinguising Marks: HL-98 tattoo on abdomen
- Current Location: IPPL Sanctuary in Summerville, South Carolina USA
Background
I first encountered Arun in the IPPL's Adopt a Gibbon fundraising campaign in their September 2006 newsletter.
His story from the newsletter was quite compelling.
Arun Rangsi was born in 1979 at a California Research laboratory. Abandoned by his mother at birth, he was raised with a substitute mother made of wire to which he clung. Then the laboratory lost the funding for its program, and IPPL Chairwoman Shirley McGreal, acting on a tip-off, rescued him from potential euthenasia. Once he arrived at the IPPL sanctuary, his physical and mental condition greatly improved, thanks to a good diet and lots of love. Today Arun Rangsi lives happily with Shanti, another former laboratory gibbon, and his daughter Speedy.
What else is there to know about Arun?
This is an attempt to catalogue his story. Each time new information is found, it will be added.
Latest News
I found an old newsletter online from the IPPL (April 1999 - up at http://monkeymaddness.com/apes_monkeys/bbm57.htm). I also read the Arun Page on IPPL.org. http://www.ippl.org/arun.html
Arun's Childhood
According to letter, Arun was rejected by his mother at birth and for many months was kept with a swinging wire surrogate. (If anyone has pictures of one of these, please let us know.) He has his lab number HL-98 tattooed in blue on his abdomen. The research done at the lab involved injecting gibbons with a cancer-causing virus.
Luckily for Arun, the lab lost their funding. Apparently noone wanted to buy Arun because they thought he was "mentally retarded" and "metabolically abnormal". The UC David lab directory (anyone know who this would have been?) gave Arun to the IPPL in exchange for them paying for his transportation to their refuge. The Sacramento based Animal Protection Institute helped transport Arun from Davis to the San Francisco airport. Arun arrived at the IPPL sanctuary on his second birthday. The trip occured during the famous early 80's air controller strike, so Shirley and Kit had to drive to Atlanta in a nasty thunderstorm to get him. The cargo agent mistook Arun for a Chimpanzee.
Arun was in rough shape when he arrived. He was a meager four pounds (half his proper weight). He used to bang his head obsessively and was scared of humans. His medical records showed problems with dysentery and pneumonia. He has stopped the headbanging behavior after much hard work by the IPPL and now seems to be leading a happy life.
Arun Rangsi is a Thai name that means the Rising Sun of Dawn. This name came from a Thai member of the IPPL that placed him under the protection of the Lord Buddha.
... more to come as we find it ...