Monkey World

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Monkey World is a 65-acre (0.26 km²) ape and monkey sanctuary and zoo in Dorset, England. It was set up in 1987 by Jim and Alison Cronin to provide abused Spanish beach chimpanzees—who would be dressed in human clothes and used as a photographer's prop in tourist resorts, and often killed at ages 4 or 5—with rehabilitation and a stable home.

Today it houses over 150 different primates of 15 different species, which makes it the largest collection outside of Africa. The centre works closely with foreign governments and conservation bodies to stop the illegal smuggling of apes out of Africa and Asia, and has rescued many abused chimpanzees, living in laboratories, in circuses, as novelty pets, or as photographers' props.

Monkey World has featured in many television programmes including:

ITV—Nature Watch
BBC—Operation Chimpanzee
BBC—State of the Ark
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
ITV1 and Animal Planet - Monkey Business; a continuing series produced by Meridian Television focusing on Monkey World. Nine series have been broadcast to date.