The £1,600 health check bill facing Cornwall’s rescued monkeys

Two weeks after announcing it would close The Monkey Sanctuary for good, Wild Futures has moved into the next, expensive phase of the job. Every monkey still living at the sanctuary now needs a full round of health checks before it can be rehomed, and the Cornwall wildlife charity says the true cost runs into tens of thousands of pounds.

Since the closure was announced on 7th August, the charity says it has been flooded with messages of understanding, compassion and love, and has thanked everyone who sent condolences, memories and kind words. Staff are continuing to provide the monkeys’ everyday care while working behind the scenes to secure their futures, and the charity says it now needs the public’s help to make that happen.

A second, costly phase begins

With conversations continuing with carefully selected sanctuaries and organisations that share Wild Futures’ ethos, the charity is starting what it calls the vital second phase: primate health checks. Each monkey needs a physical examination, an ultrasound, an x-ray, a comprehensive blood analysis, and viral and bacterial testing, along with any medication required to prepare them for the move.

None of it is cheap. Wild Futures expects each of these appointments to cost upward of £1,600, with the anaesthetic alone totalling £254. On top of that come three rounds of sitewide faecal tests, charged at £762 a round. The charity says every test result, x-ray and scan feeds directly into the standard of care the monkeys receive before, during and after their move.

Talks with sanctuaries that share the ethos

Wild Futures says every meeting, in person or virtual, is going into finding the right next home for each resident species. Its team is working with other primate specialists, coordinating the logistics of a large-scale move, and advocating for every animal and its own particular personality along the way.

Staff will stay with the monkeys as they adjust

Once the health checks are complete, staff face the difficult job of transferring the primates to their new homes. Wild Futures says the exact timeline will be shaped by what is best for the monkeys, and by what works for their current and future carers, rather than by a fixed date. As is common and best practice for a move of this kind, members of staff will accompany the monkeys and stay alongside them while they settle in.

Wild Futures is asking anyone who can help to donate towards the cost of the move, with the fundraising page live now at www.wildfutures.org/donate. The team caring for the monkeys day to day says the work continues regardless, and that every donation brings the sanctuary’s animals a step closer to their next home.

📷Credit: Wild Futures