Wim Mager (26 September 1940 in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

– 23 March 2008 in

Silvolde Silvolde (West Low German: ''Sillevolde'') is a village in the Achterhoek and is part of the municipality Oude IJsselstreek. School There are several schools in Silvolde, those are: * de Plakkenberg (elementary school) * de Drie Linden (elementar ...

) was a Dutch photographer who is mainly known for founding the Apenheul Primate Park near Apeldoorn of which he was the director until 1997. When he had found a successor he moved to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and started a similar primate park near

Poitiers Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...

called

La Vallée des Singes La Vallée des Singes ("The Valley of the Monkeys") is a primate park in Romagne, Vienne, Romagne, France. History La Vallée des Singes was founded by Wim Mager who had previously founded the Apenheul Primate Park in the Netherlands in 1971, whic ...

. Apenheul was the result of an out of control hobby. Mager had two small monkeys as a pet but when the pair got children one thing led to another. His ideal was starting a primate park where the primates would not be kept in cages but could walk free among the people. Apenheul was the first park of its kind in the world. Bert de Boer, the later director of Apenheul called him a "pionier of the zoo world". Mager died on the first Easter day in 2008 at 67 years of age after having been ill for some time. He twice had a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

, the last heavy one a week before his death.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mager, Wim 1940 births 2008 deaths Photographers from Rotterdam 20th-century Dutch businesspeople