Monkey World in Dorset, England

Monkey World in Dorset Nature Reserve in Wareham, Wiltshire, England

Monkey World is a 65-acre ape and monkey sanctuary and rescue centre near Wareham, Dorset. Set up in 1987 by the late Jim Cronin and later operated by both him and his wife Alison, it 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.

Monkey World works with foreign governments to stop the illegal smuggling of wild primates.

The facility made the news in January 2008 with 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 20 years.

In August 2010 Monkey World rescued a Bornean Orang-utan called Oshine from Johannesburg, South Africa and there have been made many other rescues since.

'Monkey Life' following on from the popular 'Monkey Business' is being shown on Channel 5 this year, 2012.