Monkey World - England's Monkey Rescue Center

A Primate Sanctuary Deep in the Heart of Dorset in England

Nov 27, 2009 Roger Tunsley

Chimps, capuchins, orang-utans, and lemurs. Not what you would expect to find down the leafy lanes of rural Dorset. Monkey World is a major center for primate rescue.

In 1987, Jim Cronin heard about a group of nine baby chimpanzees in Spain. They were being drugged and used as props by photographers on a Spanish beach. Jim leased a 65-acre pig farm in Dorset, a county in Southern England, then persuaded the Spanish government to seize the chimps after promising to give them a sanctuary. Monkey World now houses over 230 abused or neglected primates of 15 different species from 14 countries, and has the largest collection of chimpanzees outside of Africa. The organization works with governments the world over to stop the illegal smuggling of apes out of Africa and Asia.

Monkey Rescue

The chimpanzees in the park are almost all rescued animals. Young chimpanzees born in Africa are the target of poaching expeditions that usually result in the slaughter of adults as they try and defend their babies and extended family. It is estimated that the removal of one infant can result in the death of up to ten other chimpanzees. The young animals are smuggled out the country and sold illegally abroad as pets or working animals.

As an example, young chimps are used by photographers in Spanish tourist resorts as photographic props. As they mature and grow, they become difficult to control. Some owners beat them and pull out their teeth, even drugging them in an effort to control their aggression. When they become too difficult, they are killed and replaced with a new baby chimp.

Monkey World works with Spanish authorities to confiscate these beach chimpanzees. Medical checks often reveal injuries such as machete wounds and broken bones. Many of the chimps come to the sanctuary addicted to drugs. Recovery and rehabilitation is a lengthy process with many of the animals suffering from malnutrition and anaemia.

At Monkey World, the chimps are rehabilitated into large social groups to recreate as close as possible their life in the wild. There are definitely no chimpanzees tea parties here.

Primate Sanctuary

Since the original chimpanzee rescue that drove the establishment of Monkey World, many more primates from around the world have been rescued from mistreatment or from owners who had the animals as pets until they found they could not cope with the grown animal. The list of individual species being cared for at Monkey World is impressive indeed.

Chimpanzees
Orang-utans
Gibbons (Five species)
Marmosets
Capuchins
Tamarins
Lemurs
Squirrel monkeys
Woolly monkeys
Macaques

Monkey Adoption

As with any organization of this type, there is a continuous need for funding to enable Monkey World to maintain the park and its current occupants, and to continue and grow its work of rescuing animals. The park is a popular center for visitors and many local businesses donate food, blankets and linens, and so on. The park runs a program that lets individuals adopt a monkey or, in the case of the smaller monkeys and lemurs, a group of animals. Adoptions cost around $46 per year and adopters are sent a pack that includes information about the particular animal or group they have adopted, plus free admission to the park for the year.

Media Outlets for Monkey World

Monkey World has featured in many television programs including:

ITV – Nature Watch;
BBC - Operation Chimpanzee;
BBC - State of the Ark which highlighted our rescue and rehabilitation work;
BBC - Animal Hospital;
CNN & Sky TV - Highlighting a rescue operation in Turkey of smuggled chimpanzees;
ITV – GMTV covering the illegal pet trade in Turkey.
BBC – QED Saving Trudy.
Granada and Discovery Channels – 9 series of 'Monkey Business' were produced, documenting Monkey World's rescue and rehabilitation work.
Channel 5 and Animal Planet - the 'Monkey Life' series continues on from 'Monkey Business' and is in continual production at the park.

Sadly, Jim Cronin, the founder of the park, died in 1987, but his legacy lives on through the continued efforts of his wife, Dr. Alison Cronin. Monkey World continues to be not only a major attraction in the South of England, but an example to the world of the good that can come from the efforts of the individual.

Sources

Monkey World web site

Guardian.co.uk - Jim Cronin Obituary

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