A Tale of Two Sanctuaries

As I continue my research into what is wrong with the Fauna Foundation chimp diet, I came across this site http://ippl.org/. Please check out the site yourself. Nonetheless, I will give you a resume of the International Primate Protection League.

Amongst many of the great things that Shirley McGreal, founder of IPPL, and her organization has been doing since 1973 is running a sanctuary for rescued gibbon apes in South Carolina. Gibbons, as many might know, are also anthropoid apes. They are not as close genetically or physiologically to humans as chimps are. Chimps, however, are definitely as close to gibbons as they are to humans genetically and physiologically.

As I was reading the site and also enjoying the recordings of the gibbons'songs-yes they sing, each and every one of them. Although not very understandable to my relatively stupid left-brain dominated human mind (gifted singing, as well as all the arts are a product of right hemisphere dominant brains), there is no doubt that the gibbons' songs are beautiful and undoubtedly a form of language and higher intelligence. If you want to learn more about how primate minds developed from a fruit rich diet in our original forest home and are now deteriorating at a shocking rate because of the introduction of "frankenfoods", I highly recommend the book "Left in the Dark"" by Graham Gynn and Tony Wright.

Back to the gibbons. Many of the gibbons rescued by Shirley McGreal came from experimental torture labs. For those of you who blindly follow scientific "experts" please remember the horrors, such as experimental torture labs, created by "genius experts" before following their lead. They are not perfect. They can and do, easily make mistakes-use your own judgment-in as much as our damaged left brain dominated brains let you.

Again, sorry for the digression, back to the gibbons. One of Shirley's rescues is named Igor. According to IPPL, "he had lived at a drug company laboratory before being sent to the New York lab where he resided for 21 years. At some time in his life Igor had developed a neurotic habit that nearly caused his death on several occasions. He "self-mutilated" whenever he saw another gibbon. Igor would become frantic and bite himself savagely for minutes on end. More than once, he almost died of blood loss." This one example clearly shows the nightmares that life in experimental torture labs creates. It is no stretch of the imagination to conclude that the gibbons were not spared any of the tortures imposed upon the chimps. Shame on us all.

Back to Igor. "Despite this sad past, Igor really likes people. He loves to have his back scratched. He enjoys bird-watching and even has his own TV. He also enjoys the company of dogs. He has now been here 22 years." Isn't this amazing?!!! Not only did he forgive his human torturers, he even likes them. What is also amazing, as well as pertinent to this blog about the optimal, natural diet for primates, is that Igor not only survived his past abuses, but is now thriving!!! After undoubtedly experiencing severe physical and psychological trauma for at least 21 years, he has been thriving for at least 22 years! He is not alone either. IPPL has many very old, healthy gibbons that swing, sing and look amazingly young for their age.

You must be saying to yourself-"don't be so quick to draw parallels between the chimps at Fauna and the gibbons at IPPL. They're not the same". I disagree. I kindly refer you to my previous post about the Law of Similars which can be found here. They do not need to be identical, what is important is that they are similar enough in all the important matters such as genetics and physiology. In other words, to quote an author I highly admire, Jared Diamond in "The Third Chimpanzee. The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal", "In this respect as in most others, we are just a third species of chimpanzee, and what's good enough for common and pygmy chimps is good enough for us."

So what makes IPPL more successful than Fauna? There are many factors involved in optimal health and longevity, but one of the most important is proper diet. Of course, while I thoroughly examined the IPPL site with regards to this important factor, I came across this, "the gibbons are fed the best quality fruits and vegetables". I wrote IPPL and Shirley McGreal confirmed this, also saying: "We don't allow visitors and the gibbons seldom get sick. Occasionally animals fight but we are lucky as they don't get diarrheal diseases.
A good thing because you can't pill a gibbon. They are not like
chimps who tend to swallow anything. If gibbons suspect a pill, they
perform a thorough examination and toss whatever you hid it in or the
whole package if it's powder!

We don't use vitamins as every meal has multiple choice of food items. Shirley"

Imagine, they seldom get sick and they refuse to take any pills! But, any microbiologist can tell you that germs are ubiquitous and multiply at lightning speed. Even the workers at IPPL expose the gibbons to billions of germs, viruses, bacterias, fungi etc. How could they not?

"They seldom get sick and they refuse to take any pills", can most humans say the same? Look around you, the vast majority definitely can not. I used to think "better living through chemistry" had been proven indisputably, at the expense of Igor, chimps and other torture victims, by big pharmaceutical companies. They don't have any financial interests involved in these claims, after all-what a numb skull I was in this regard. What a surprise that this miraculous gibbon with almost 98% identical genes to humans can live this way- old, yet young-looking, athletic, healthy and intelligent. It is not a surprise to natural hygienists, who study and respect the laws of nature. There is a small, but growing number of humans that are actually waking up to this possibility. I am one of the fortunate few who is.

The summary conclusion of this tale of two sanctuaries is this, a whole, fresh, ripe, organic, low-fat, raw vegan diet that meets caloric needs is the optimal diet for all anthropoid apes. IPPL, is just another of the many examples proving this. I have and am experiencing incredible health benefits from adopting an 811 low-fat, raw vegan diet. Imagine how wonderful it could, would be if all primates ate this way. It would mean more multi-fruit bearing forests, less destruction from soil eroding mono-culture grain agriculture. It would mean more vibrant health for all. It would mean the end of experimental torture labs because they simply are not needed. The win-infinity scenario is endless. It is my sincerest hope that one day, all primates will be able to sing and dance-perhaps even swing from trees-well into our genetically programmed old age with vibrant health. We must spread the word.


p.s. As a sad note, Shirley McGreal also stated that they have very recently started introducing bread and "browse biscuits" to the gibbons diets. I have no idea why they are introducing this most unnatural of artificial sugars and junk cooked food. The predictable and inevitable health declines that the gibbons will suffer from the gluten, maillard reaction products, and other health-destroying chemicals found in these "frankenfoods" will be devastating to witness. I can only hope they will stop this practice as soon as possible.