Woman wins royal honor for primate protection work

Grace Beahm
The Post and Courier

Shirley McGreal, Chairwoman of the International Primate Protection League has been awarded the Order of the British Empire for her service towards the protection of primates.

SUMMERVILLE — Shirley McGreal treats the gibbons in her Summerville primate sanctuary like royalty. They eat fresh fruits and vegetables, their tall cages have room to swing. They wander the grounds in safe, overhead walkways.

Now, royalty has noticed McGreal, a native of England who has been running the sanctuary since 1977. Queen Elizabeth II has bestowed on her the Order of the British Empire for her international efforts to protect primates.

McGreal was named on the prestigious 2008 British New Year Honours list, released Saturday. Honorees are recognized for different levels of service, and McGreal's award is one of the highest honors the Queen can bestow on an individual.

When she learned about the award, McGreal said, "I was very thrilled. I almost dropped backward." Sometime this year, though she's not yet sure when, she'll travel to England for an "inauguration" with the Queen.

"I'll have to learn to curtsy," she said.

Patricia Carter, Daughters of the British Empire's state president for South Carolina, said The Order of the British Empire is a civilian award given to people who have given "important and worthy service to the community or country."

McGreal, who earned a doctoral degree in education in the 1960s, said she founded her group, the International Primate Protection League, in 1973 in Thailand. She was appalled by the way animals were treated in the illegal wildlife trade, she said.

McGreal pulled together seven friends to try to take some action to change things. "It changed the direction of my life," she said.

Her organization now raises money to assist groups trying to stop the illegal wildlife trade in South America, Africa and Asia. It also publishes a magazine about primate protection.

And the group runs a primate sanctuary in Summerville that currently cares for 38 gibbons. The animals include former laboratory primates, discarded pets and exhibit animals from substandard zoos.

As McGreal walked through the sanctuary Monday, it was clear that's where she feels at home. She greeted each of her gibbons. She knows all their names, their ages and where they came from. She remembers what was happening the day they arrived.

Gibby, who's about 40 years old, came from a troubled sanctuary in Texas on March 31, 2007, along with 11 other animals, McGreal said, as Gibby reached through an opening in his cage and held her hand.

McGreal knows which animals to get close to, which ones to give space to and which are most likely to reach down from overhead walkways and pull hair.

She's committed to continuing her work, she said, even though it poses some challenges. One of the biggest is raising money to keep the organization going.

But she'll keep at it.

"That's what I do," she said. "I beg."

Reach Diane Knich at 937-5491 or dknich@postandcourier.com.