The Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre is a
ape
Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its siste ...
and
monkey
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
sanctuary
A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...
and rescue centre near
Wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool.
As ...
,
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
History
![Entrance to Monkey World, near Wareham - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Entrance_to_Monkey_World%2C_near_Wareham_-_geograph.org.uk_-_162232.jpg)
Set up in 1987 by
Jim Cronin with assistance from both Jeremy Keeling and later operated by both Cronin and his wife
Alison along with a team of care staff led by Keeling, Monkey World was originally intended to provide a home for abused chimpanzees used as props by Spanish beach photographers, but is now home to many different species of primates.
Monkey World's first resident was a female
Bornean Orangutan named Amy, who had been hand-reared by Keeling. Amy was later paired with a male orangutan named Banghi, who was given to Monkey World on loan from
Chester Zoo
Chester Zoo is a zoo at Upton-by-Chester, Cheshire, England. Chester Zoo was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family. It is one of the UK's largest zoos at . The zoo has a total land holding of approximately .
Chester Zoo is operate ...
. In 1997, Amy and Banghi had a son together named Gordon before Banghi died in 1998.
On 13 July 1987, Monkey World's first chimpanzees Paddy (d. 2016), Busta, Jimmy, Micky, Sammy, Taffy (d. 1989), Beth, Cindy and Zoe arrived at the park.
In April 1998, Monkey World rescued a young female chimpanzee named Trudy, who had been filmed being beaten by
Mary Chipperfield
Mary Rose Cawley ( Chipperfield, 26 November 1937 – 30 November 2014) was a 1970s British circus entertainer who specialised in a chimpanzee act. She was also known as an animal trainer, providing numerous animals for various BBC productions and ...
. Chipperfield was later charged with 12 counts of animal cruelty.
On Saturday 17 March 2007 Jim Cronin died in a New York hospital aged 55 years from liver cancer. His widow
Alison Cronin and the staff at Monkey World have continued to run the centre.
Monkey World works with foreign governments to stop the illegal smuggling of wild primates. In January 2008 the group performed what ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' called "the world's biggest rescue mission of its kind," when it saved 88
capuchin monkey
The capuchin monkeys () are New World monkeys of the subfamily Cebinae. They are readily identified as the " organ grinder" monkey, and have been used in many movies and television shows. The range of capuchin monkeys includes some tropical fores ...
s from a laboratory in
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
,
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
, where some of the animals had been kept in solitary cages for up to twenty years. The operation was carried out at the request of the laboratory, and with help from the
Chilean Air Force
"With full speed to the stars"
, colours = Indigo White
, colours_label =
, march = Alte Kameraden
, mascot =
, anniversaries = 21 March ...
, who flew the animals to
Bournemouth
Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...
airport with special permission from the British government.
In August 2010 Monkey World rescued a
Bornean orangutan
The Bornean orangutan (''Pongo pygmaeus'') is a species of orangutan endemic to the island of Borneo. Together with the Sumatran orangutan (''Pongo abelii'') and Tapanuli orangutan (''Pongo tapanuliensis''), it belongs to the only genus of great ...
called Oshine from
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
.
On 7 December 2010 Monkey World rescued an orphan baby
Sumatran orangutan
The Sumatran orangutan (''Pongo abelii'') is one of the three species of orangutans. Critically Endangered, and found only in the north of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, it is rarer than the Bornean orangutan but more common than the recent ...
called Silvestre from a zoo in Spain. In January 2011, Monkey World rescued a chimpanzee named Kiki from
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
.
In September 2018, Monkey World rescued a female chimpanzee named Toprish, who had been stolen from the wild for the illegal pet trade before being left at a zoo in Turkey. In October that same year, Monkey World rescued another female chimpanzee named Naree, whom Alison Cronin first encountered with Jim in 2003.
In February 2020, Monkey World rescued a 37-year-old chimpanzee named Kalu, who had been kept as a pet on a stud farm in South Africa until her owner's death.
During
Storm Eunice
Storm Eunice () (known as Storm Zeynep in Germany and Storm Nora in Denmark) was an intense extratropical cyclone that was part of the 2021–2022 European windstorm season. Storm Eunice was named by the UK Met Office on 14 February 2022. A re ...
in February 2022, a very rare
woolly monkey
The woolly monkeys are the genus ''Lagothrix'' of New World monkeys, usually placed in the family Atelidae.
Both species in this genus originate from the rainforests of South America. They have prehensile tails and live in relatively large soci ...
was unexpectedly born, only to be followed by another in March. The park also suffered during the storm, with lots of trees being felled and fences being damaged.
Overview
Monkey World features the largest group of
chimpanzee
The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...
s outside of Africa which are housed in four different social groups.
Many of its animals are rescued from the black market pet trade, laboratories and from abuse as tourist photographer props. The park also features three groups of
orangutan
Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...
s, including two different species (
Bornean
Borean (also Boreal or Boralean)http://ehl.santafe.edu/EhlforWeb.pdf is a hypothetical linguistic macrofamily that encompasses almost all language families worldwide except those native to the Americas, Africa, Oceania, and the Andaman Islands. ...
and
Sumatran
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent is ...
). It is host to Europe's only orangutan
crèche
Crèche or creche (from Latin ''cripia'' "crib, cradle") may refer to:
*Child care center, an organization of adults who take care of children in place of their parents
*Nativity scene, a group of figures arranged to represent the birth of Jesus ...
which raises all orphaned or abandoned orangutans in Europe.
Whilst open to housing
gorilla
Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...
s, the park has not yet come across any which require rescue or rehabilitation at the park. Additionally, the park houses five different species of gibbon (
agile gibbon
The agile gibbon (''Hylobates agilis''), also known as the black-handed gibbon, is an Old World primate in the gibbon family. It is found in Indonesia on the island of Sumatra, Malaysia, and southern Thailand. The species is listed as endangere ...
,
lar gibbon
The lar gibbon (''Hylobates lar''), also known as the white-handed gibbon, is an endangered primate in the gibbon family, Hylobatidae. It is one of the better-known gibbons and is often kept in captivity.
Taxonomy
There are five subspecies of ...
,
Müller's gibbon
Müller's gibbon (''Hylobates muelleri''), also known as the southern grey gibbon, is a primate in the gibbon family, Hylobatidae.
Taxonomy
Formerly, the western grey gibbon (''H. abbotti'') and eastern grey gibbon (''H. funereus'') were consi ...
,
siamang
The siamang (, ; ''Symphalangus syndactylus'') is an arboreal, black-furred gibbon native to the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. The largest of the gibbons, the siamang can be twice the size of other gibbons, reaching in height, a ...
and
golden-cheeked gibbon) and 14 species of monkey/
prosimian
Prosimians are a group of primates that includes all living and extinct Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines (lemurs, Lorisoidea, lorisoids, and Adapiformes, adapiforms), as well as the Haplorhini, haplorhine tarsiers and their extinct relatives, the O ...
(
capuchins,
common marmoset
The common marmoset (''Callithrix jacchus'') also called white-tufted marmoset or white-tufted-ear marmoset is a New World monkey. It originally lived on the northeastern coast of Brazil, in the states of Piaui, Paraiba, Ceará, Rio Grande do No ...
s,
Geoffrey's marmoset
The white-headed marmoset (''Callithrix geoffroyi''), also known as the tufted-ear marmoset, Geoffroy's marmoset, or Geoffrey's marmoset, is a marmoset endemic to forests in eastern Brazil, where it is native to Bahia, Espírito Santo, and Minas ...
s,
cotton-top tamarin
The cotton-top tamarin (''Saguinus oedipus'') is a small New World monkey weighing less than . This New World monkey can live up to 24 years, but most of them die by 13 years. One of the smallest primates, the cotton-top tamarin is easily recogn ...
s,
patas monkey
The common patas monkey (''Erythrocebus patas''), also known as the wadi monkey or hussar monkey, is a ground-dwelling monkey distributed over semi-arid areas of West Africa, and into East Africa.
Taxonomy
There is some confusion surrounding ...
s,
red-bellied guenons,
ring-tailed lemur
The ring-tailed lemur (''Lemur catta'') is a large strepsirrhine primate and the most recognized lemur due to its long, black and white ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of five lemur families, and is the only member of the ''Lemur'' ge ...
s,
white-faced saki
The white-faced saki (''Pithecia pithecia''), called the Guianan saki and the golden-faced saki, is a species of the New World saki monkey. They can be found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela. This species lives in the und ...
,
slow loris
Slow lorises are a group of several species of nocturnal strepsirrhine primates that make up the genus ''Nycticebus''. Found in Southeast Asia and bordering areas, they range from Bangladesh and Northeast India in the west to the Sulu Archipe ...
,
spider monkey
Spider monkeys are New World monkeys belonging to the genus ''Ateles'', part of the subfamily Atelinae, family Atelidae. Like other atelines, they are found in tropical forests of Central and South America, from southern Mexico to Brazil. The g ...
s,
squirrel monkey
Squirrel monkeys are New World monkeys of the genus ''Saimiri''. ''Saimiri'' is the only genus in the subfamily Saimirinae. The name of the genus is of Tupi origin (''sai-mirím'' or ''çai-mbirín'', with ''sai'' meaning 'monkey' and ''mirím'' ...
s,
stump-tailed macaque
The stump-tailed macaque (''Macaca arctoides''), also called the bear macaque, is a species of macaque native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. In India, it occurs south of the Brahmaputra River, in the northeastern part of the country. Its range ...
s and
woolly monkeys
The woolly monkeys are the genus ''Lagothrix'' of New World monkeys, usually placed in the family Atelidae.
Both species in this genus originate from the rainforests of South America. They have prehensile tails and live in relatively large soci ...
).
Dao Tien Rescue Centre
In 2008, Monkey World along with the Pingtung Rescue Centre,
Cat Tien National Park
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...
and the Forestry Protection Department worked together to create the Dao Tien Rescue centre in
South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
to save
gibbon
Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical rainforest from eastern Bangladesh to Northeast India ...
s and other
primates
Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...
from the
pet trade
Wildlife trade refers to the of products that are derived from non-domesticated animals or plants usually extracted from their natural environment or raised under controlled conditions. It can involve the trade of living or dead individuals, ti ...
,
smuggling
Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.
There are various ...
,
theme parks
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
and restaurants. Since opening, Dao Tien has confiscated and/or rescued over 50 endangered primates including
golden-cheeked gibbons,
pygmy slow loris
The pygmy slow loris (''Xanthonycticebus pygmaeus'') is a species of slow loris found east of the Mekong River in Vietnam, Laos, eastern Cambodia, and China. It occurs in a variety of forest habitats, including tropical dry forests, semi-evergre ...
,
black-shanked douc
The black-shanked douc (''Pygathrix nigripes'') is an endangered species of douc found mostly in the forests of Eastern Cambodia, with some smaller populations in Southern Vietnam. The region they are mostly found in is called the Annamite Range, ...
,
grey-shanked douc,
southern white-cheeked gibbon
The southern white-cheeked gibbon (''Nomascus siki'') is a species of gibbon native to Vietnam and Laos. It is closely related to the northern white-cheeked gibbon (''Nomascus leucogenys'') and the yellow-cheeked gibbon (''Nomascus gabriellae'') ...
,
northern buffed-cheeked gibbon
The northern buffed-cheeked gibbon (''Nomascus annamensis'') is a newly discovered species of crested gibbon which is found in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Its habitat is in the humid subtropical and seasonal tropical forests of these countries.
...
,
white-faced saki
The white-faced saki (''Pithecia pithecia''), called the Guianan saki and the golden-faced saki, is a species of the New World saki monkey. They can be found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela. This species lives in the und ...
and
silvered langur. 27 of these primates have been rehabilitated and released into native habitats. After release they are tracked using radio collars. Dao Tien is run by the charity Endangered Asian Species Trust (EAST), who rescue and rehabilitate endangered Vietnamese primates. The work of Dr. Marina Kenyon and her team has been documented in the ''
Monkey Life
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
'' TV series since Series 2.
Television appearances
The TV documentary ''
Monkey Business'' completed its 9th season in 2005 and its successor ''
Monkey Life
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
'', is currently in its 14th season. Other television appearances include:
* ''
Monkey Life
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
'' – Season 4 on
National Geographic Channel
National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...
** Seasons 1, 2 & 3 on
Animal Planet
Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1, 1996, the network is primarily dev ...
; currently showing on Animal Planet (Europe)
* ''
Monkey Business'' on
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
and Animal Planet. A concluded series produced by Meridian Television focusing on Monkey World. Nine series have been broadcast to date, with two specials on "Jim Cronin's Legacy" broadcast in June 2008. ''Monkey Business'' has been succeeded by ''Monkey Life'', produced by Primate Planet Productions Ltd.
* ''
Challenge Anneka
''Challenge Anneka'' is a British reality programme that aired on BBC1 from 8 September 1989 to 15 October 1995 and was hosted by Anneka Rice.
It was announced in 2006 that the series was returning, but this time on ITV. The first of the two s ...
'' on
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
* ''Nature Watch'' on ITV
* ''Operation Chimpanzee'' on BBC
* ''State of the Ark'' on BBC
* ''
Animal Hospital
''Animal Hospital'' is a British television show starring Australian singer and TV presenter Rolf Harris that ran on BBC One from 1994 to 2004 and more recently starring Phil Dixon. The series featured animal welfare stories from many RSPCA hosp ...
'' on BBC
*
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
&
Sky TV, highlighting a rescue operation in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
of smuggled chimpanzees
* ITV
GMTV
GMTV (an acronym for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, was the name of the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 ...
, covering the illegal pet trade in Turkey. Since 1998 Monkey World has been working in cooperation with the Turkish Government to stop the smuggling of chimpanzees from the wild for the entertainment and pet trade.
* ''QED Saving Trudy'' on BBC
* ''Animals in Love'' Episode 1 on BBC, discussing siamang gibbon Sam's depression of losing his mate Sage and son Onion before recovering after being given a new mate named Sasak.
* ''Inside Out London'' on BBC, discussing if keeping exotic pets should be banned.
Russell Brand
Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian and actor known for his flamboyant, loquacious style and manner. Brand has received three British Comedy Awards: Best Newcomer (2006), Best Live Stand-Up (2008), and the award for ...
often used to talk about Monkey World on his old
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
programme and podcast.
Awards
Monkey World has won a number of awards, including:
* Tripadvisor Certificate of Excellence, 2014, 2012 and 2011
* Highly Commended Bournemouth Tourism Awards, 2012
* The Independent 50 Best Spring Days out in Britain, 2004
* The Good Britain Guide, Family Attraction of the Year for Dorset, 2000
Jim Cronin and Alison Cronin jointly received the
Jane Goodall Award
Jane may refer to:
* Jane (given name), a feminine given name
* Jane (surname), related to the given name
Film and television
* ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd
* ''Jane'' (2016 film), a South Korean drama fil ...
for their work with Monkey World.
See also
*
List of animal sanctuaries
This is a list of notable animal sanctuaries from around the world. This list contains only sanctuaries who have their own articles within Wikipedia, or a section within an article in Wikipedia.
Argentina
* Santuario Equidad, San Marcos S ...
References
{{authority control
Animal welfare organisations based in the United Kingdom
Organizations established in 1987
Primate sanctuaries
Tourist attractions in Dorset
Zoos in England
Zoos established in 1987
1987 establishments in England