Adopt a Monkey

From only £2 a month or £24 a year, you can help The Monkey Sanctuary Trust offer a safe and happy home for the many monkeys who need our care. The Trust also helps and supports rescue centres around the world, such as Siglo XXI in Chile, and supports other vital conservation projects. You too can help by adopting a monkey, perhaps for yourself or as a unique gift for a friend.

Adoptions include:

• A photo of your adopted monkey
• A personalised certificate
• An annual pass to The Monkey Sanctuary in Looe, Cornwall
• A fact sheet about the monkey's species
• A brief background history of your adopted monkey
• Regular updates through our newsletter

Below we would like to introduce you to some of the monkeys currently available for adoption. (If you would like to choose one of our other monkeys for adoption, there is more individual information at Our Residents). If you would to like help these and others in need please complete the adoption form and send it to us. If you are adopting a monkey as a gift for a particular occasion, please mark this on the form so that we can start the adoption from the date and avoid spoiling the suprise with a mailing. Please allow 28 days for your adoption to be processed. If you are a non-UK resident, go to our International Adoptions page.

If the stories below move you, then please support our work to end the primate pet trade by signing our petition.

Joey is a black-capped capuchin monkey. His owner kept him indoors for 10 years in a flat in London, before abandoning him. When the Trust was alerted to Joey’s plight, he was left alone for 22 hours a day in a cage only 6 foot by 4 foot by 3 foot. His only company was a large screen TV. Joey never went outside and has severely deformed bones due to lack of sunlight and a bad diet. Despite his physical problems, Joey has an amazing spirit. We have adapted enclosures so he can move around safely and he is developing muscles to help overcome his disabilities. He has amazing social skills for a monkey who has been alone so long and enjoys playing and grooming with other black-capped capuchin monkeys.

Frosty, a black-capped capuchin, is approximately 12 years old. He lived for years on his own in a small, bare, metal cage, deprived of the company of other monkeys.

When Frosty arrived at the Sanctuary he was overweight due to a poor
diet and from having no space to exercise. He is naturally sociable and
is a keen and expressive character who is always interested in all that
goes on around him. With the correct care and diet, Frosty may live to
be 40 years old.

Capuchins are a threatened species in the wild due to deforestation and the illegal pet trade.

Peppy is a weeper capuchin who had been living as a family pet before he was rescued by The Monkey Sanctuary Trust. He is very clever but had obviously been deprived of stimulation and interest whilst living in his garden shed.

Peppy is now doing very well at the Sanctuary and is enjoying the company of Gary, Coco and Chanel our other weeper capuchins.

Oliver, a woolly monkey, was born in January 2004 at The Monkey
Sanctuary, despite his mother having a contraceptive implant. As the youngest, Oliver is a popular member of the woolly colony. He is an adventurous character who is always foraging and exploring. He loves
to play, swing, jump and see how much he can get away with around
the other monkeys!

Following Oliver's birth The Monkey Sanctuary Trust revised the use of contraceptive implants and now the females of the colony take a contraceptive pill; which has, so far, been successful!

Mickey is a black-capped capuchin who came to us having spent 18 years living in a back garden where, luckier than most pet monkeys, she at least had the company of two other capuchins, Tanya and Jackie, and an owner who loved her greatly. When Mickey arrived at the Sanctuary she was very small; her growth may have been stunted due to a lack of D3 when she was young. Her teeth were also rotten due to a poor diet.

Mickey now enjoys a full and varied diet which she relishes! Eating is her favourite past time and has given her a fuller figure and glossy coat. She also enjoys the constantly stimulating environment created by the Sanctuary and the eight other capuchins with whom she now shares her life.

The Monkey Sanctuary Trust also supports the work of Siglo XXI, a unique rescue centre in Chile, which provides a caring and safe home for survivors of the illegal pet trade like Esperanzo.

Esperanzo, a howler monkey, was poached from the wild, and became a victim of a trade that is second only to the drugs trade in South America. He was taken to Siglo XXI when he was found abandoned in a shoebox on the street. His back was broken and he was almost blinded by cataracts. As a result of the centre’s intensive care, Esperanzo has
recovered enough to enjoy a life of safety and the company of others,
especially his best friends; female howler monkeys called Esperanza and Pola.

Tragically there are still many primates in this country who need
rescuing from sad, lonely and cruel situations.

It is still legal to have primates as pets in the UK and as a result these highly intelligent and social animals suffer both mental and physical trauma. The Monkey Sanctuary Trust is working to end the trade in primates as pets in the UK.

Adopt a Monkey Application Form