Monkey Keepers Caged for Charity!
Eleven Keepers at Looe-Based Wild Futures’ Monkey Sanctuary are getting locked in a cage for 24 hours over the next two weeks to raise funds for crucial monkey rescues.
The charity has launched an urgent appeal to rescue a number of tiny marmoset monkeys from conditions of 
abuse and neglect in the primate pet trade and the keepers are getting involved.
Wild Futures needs to raise £60,000 to build a dedicated facility at The Monkey Sanctuary, near Looe, where the monkeys will be offered specialist intensive care and attention to help them recover from the trauma they have suffered.
An estimated 5,000 primates are kept as pets in the UK and Wild Futures say the numbers of calls they receive concerning pet marmoset monkeys are on the increase. The charity has long been campaigning to end the UK primate pet trade and say that these tiny, tropical monkeys are the most common victims of inappropriate care. Monkey breeders are known to snatch them from their mothers as infants to sell them as pets for up to £1200. A lack of knowledge about their specialised needs often leads to serious physical and psychological suffering. Speedy is just one of many marmosets the charity has recently been asked to help; his story is heart-breaking to read.
Speedy’s owner was working overseas and didn’t want him anymore. He was living in a small, empty birdcage, in a cold, noisy warehouse on an industrial estate, with just a scrap of cloth on the floor of his cage to sleep on. All alone, an inappropriate diet of banana custard led to a life-threatening episode of hyperglycemia.
Luckily, Speedy was rescued by Wild Futures and taken to safety, but stories like his are common and the charity does not currently have the facilities house marmosets at their Sanctuary.
Marmoset monkeys are an intelligent, social species that naturally live in extended family groups in the rainforests of Brazil. Sadly, they are exploited as pets worldwide.
The £60,000 target will build a brand new complex of spacious indoor and outdoor enclosures to accommodate rescued marmosets in social groups. The complex will offer a stimulating three-dimensional environment with natural vegetation, branches, ropes, platforms and hiding places to allow them to express natural behaviours. Previously lonely, isolated monkeys will be able to spend their days socialising with others of their own kind.
Primate Keeper, Paul Reynolds, said: “We urgently need to raise the funds to be able to build a new facility to offer marmosets a home at our Sanctuary, so the Keeper Team came up with this sponsored event to help raise funds. It is really hard as we receive lots of calls to rescue monkeys and we are not able to help them, so we need to take action now.and we can’t wait to see how much we can raise to help the marmosets!
Due to a lack of re-homing space in the UK, the charity fears that these individuals are often sold on, to continue a life of suffering in the pet trade.
Wild Futures recently celebrated its 50th Anniversary and has taken in dozens of monkeys over the years; many rescued from conditions of abuse and neglect in the primate pet trade. Each individual has been socialised with other monkeys and now live in spacious, natural enclosures at The Monkey Sanctuary. With public support they hope to do the same for the marmosets.
Paul added: “We are looking forward to the challenge of being locked in a cage for hours. Some of the monkeys we rescue have spent years on end locked in tiny cages, all on their own, with nothing to do, so we think this is the least we can do to help them!
Members of the public visiting The Monkey Sanctuary will be able to view the keepers locked in their cage through out the next two weeks.
To donate, visit www.wildfutures.org/marmoset-appeal or text RESC01 and the amount you want to give (e.g. RESC01 £20) to 70070. Call 01503 262532 for more information or to get involved.
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Notes to Editors:
About Wild Futures
Wild Futures (Charity reg. No. 1102532) is an educational and environmental charity promoting the welfare and conservation of primates as well as working to end the abuse of primates in captivity. Its flagship project, The Monkey Sanctuary, in Cornwall, provides a safe home for life to victims of the primate pet trade – monkeys rescued from conditions of abuse and neglect. The Monkey Sanctuary is the only Sanctuary in Europe accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS) and is a founder and board member of EARS (European Alliance of Rescue Centres and Sanctuaries). Drawing on 50 years of primate expertise, Wild Futures acts as an advisory body to sanctuaries and conservation organisations in the UK and overseas and advises DEFRA on UK animal welfare legislation.
For more information or pictures, contact:
Tel; 01503 262532