Over 60 years after plans for a buyer failed, a monkey sanctuary has closed.
According to Wild Futures’ website and social media accounts, the park in Cornwall, close to Looe, has begun to experience “structural issues” that render it unsuitable as a long-term sanctuary.
The charity, which was founded in 1964, stated that the wellbeing of the monkeys remained its “top priority” and that it had already begun the process of rehoming them to certain sanctuaries and institutions.
After listing the site for sale in June 2025, Wild Futures stated that it believed it had found a buyer to assist with its improvement. However, it claimed that preparations had failed after six months of negotiations.
The director of the charity, Sarah Hanson, stated, “We do not think it would be responsible to invest hundreds of thousands of pounds into a site that is no longer suitable for the sanctuary’s long-term future and whose ongoing maintenance now far surpasses the financial resources we have available to us.”
As a result, we have had to make the tough choice to allocate funding to ensure the monkeys have a secure future.
“Hope for the future” The organization announced that an urgent appeal would be made to help pay for the “significant costs” of finding each monkey a secure home.
Due to financial difficulties, it declared in March 2025 that it would be closed to the public for the remainder of the year.
The sanctuary started saving woolly monkeys from the pet trade, according to Wild Futures. “We are proud that we were the first Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries accredited wildlife sanctuary in Europe, and we educated hundreds of thousands of visitors on animal welfare, conservation, and the need for a ban,” the organization stated.
Although we are deeply saddened by the sanctuary’s closing, we are optimistic about the future and the upcoming chapter of Wild Futures because much work remains to be done.”
After more than 60 years of rescuing and rehabilitating primates, Wild Futures has announced that it will close its long-running Monkey Sanctuary in Cornwall.
The charity stated that the safety of its monkeys was its top priority and that it had made the “difficult decision” to close the sanctuary.
Rehoming the animals to “carefully selected” shelters and institutions where they would continue to receive specialised care is already under progress.
The decision was made after a number of failures, including the failure of a proposed sale of the land, according to director Sarah Hanson.
“When we listed our home and sanctuary site for sale in June 2025, we were extremely hopeful that we would find a sympathetic buyer,” she stated. “Towards the end of 2025, we believed we had found that buyer… to our dismay, following six months of intense negotiations, those buyers dropped out without notice.”