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Monkey World

Date opened	7 August 1987
Location	Dorset, England
Land area	65 acres (26.3 ha)
No. of animals	Over 250[1]
No. of species	20
Website	monkeyworld.org

Coordinates: 50°41′50″N 2°13′04″W / 50.697311°N 2.217725°W / 50.697311; -2.217725
The Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre is a 65-acre (26.3 ha) ape and monkey sanctuary and rescue centre near Wool, Dorset, England.

History[edit]

Entrance, photographed in May 2006

Set up in 1987 by the late Jim Cronin with assistance from Jeremy Keeling,^[2] 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.^[3]

Monkey World works with foreign governments to stop the illegal smuggling of wild primates. In January 2008 the group performed what The Guardian called "the world's biggest rescue mission of its kind," when it saved 88 capuchin monkeys from a laboratory in Santiago, Chile, where some of the animals had been kept in solitary cages for up to twenty years.^[4] The operation was carried out at the request of the laboratory, and with help from the Chilean Air Force, who flew the animals to Bournemouth airport with special permission from the British government.^[5]

In August 2010 Monkey World rescued a Bornean orangutan called Oshine from Johannesburg, South Africa.
On 7 December 2010 Monkey World rescued an orphan baby Sumatran orangutan called Silvestre from a zoo in Spain. In January 2011, Monkey World rescued a chimpanzee named Kiki from Lebanon.^[6]

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.^[7]

Dao Tien Rescue Centre[edit]

In 2008, Monkey World along with the Pingtung Rescue Centre, Cat Tien National Park and the Forestry Protection Department worked together to create the Dao Tien Rescue centre in South Vietnam to save gibbons and other primates from the pet trade, smuggling, theme parks and restaurants.^[8] Since opening, Dao Tien has confiscated and/or rescued over 50 endangered primates including golden-cheeked gibbons, pygmy slow loris, black-shanked douc, grey-shanked douc, southern white-cheeked gibbon, northern buffed-cheeked gibbon and silvered langur. 27 of these primates have been rehabilitated and released into native habitats. After release they are tracked using radio collars.^[9][10] Dao Tien is run by the charity Endangered Asian Species Trust (EAST), who rescue and rehabilitate endangered Vietnamese primates.^[11] The work of Dr. Marina Kenyon and her team has been documented in the Monkey Life TV series since Series 2.

Television appearances[edit]

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The TV documentary Monkey Business has completed its 9th season and its successor Monkey Life, going on its 10th season. Other television appearances include:

• 
  Monkey Life - Season 4 on National Geographic Channel
  
  • Seasons 1, 2 & 3 on Animal Planet; currently showing on Animal Planet (Europe)
  
  


• 
  Monkey Business on ITV 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.


• 
  Nature Watch on ITV


• 
  Operation Chimpanzee on BBC
  


• 
  State of the Ark on BBC


• 
  Animal Hospital on BBC


• 
  CNN & Sky TV, highlighting a rescue operation in Turkey of smuggled chimpanzees


• ITV GMTV, 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

Russell Brand often used to talk about Monkey World on his old BBC Radio 2 programme and podcast.

Awards[edit]

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Monkey World has won a number of awards, including:^[12]

• Tripadvisor Certificate of Excellence, 2014, 2012 and 2011^[13]
  


• Highly Commended Bournemouth Tourism Awards, 2012^[14]
  


• 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 for their work with Monkey World.^[15]

See also[edit]

• List of animal sanctuaries

References[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Monkey World.