FERGUS..... Born on 28th of February 1986 at Penscynor (Mother Chico, Father Jeremy) Fergus was rejected at two weeks of age and reared by hand. Although still only a teenager he can be a bully and tends to pick on the females in the group.  

TWMI..... Born on August 18th 1984 at Penscynor, is the older brother of Fergus above. He was also rejected by his parents and hand reared from 14 weeks of age. Having assumed the role of the alpha male in the younger chimp group his hair often stands on end to make him appear larger.

FREDDIE ..... Born around 1970 and caught in the wild, was kept by lady named Barbara Howes in a circus. In 1991 at the age of 21 he was sent to Belfast Zoo, who immediately passed him on to the Causeway Safari Park. His new owners became bankrupt and the Park closed in 1996.

SUZI..... Born on October 3rd 1983 at Penscynor Suzi is the sister of Twmi and Fergus and was rejected by her mother at six weeks and hand reared. In spite of her small stature she can give Twmi her larger younger brother the run-around when she tires of the occasional slapping session.

JACKY ..... Born at Southport Zoo on the 28th of March 1977 to parents Robin and Jane. Jacky was hand reared by the zoo owners Doug and Carol Petrie and grew up accustomed to visitors and the hustle and bustle of a holiday resort.  

Suzi will pitch into brother Twmi if he goes too far in annoying her. She is constantly looking for new things to play with, especially things outside the cage, which are left too close to the mesh. Suzi is very engaging and (most of the time) a friendly character.

When annoyed Jacky has a habit of making rude gestures and will look for something to throw at the object of his displeasure. He is unerringly accurate and unfortunately his missiles are not always of a particular savoury nature.

RONNIE..... Was nineteen years old when he arrived from Zoom Erlebniswelt Zoo in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. He is a well adjusted character and quickly adapted to a new life, forming a small group with Nakima

JASON ..... Jacky's younger brother, was also born at Southport Zoo of the same parents on the 2nd of May 1983. As both chimps matured they were separated to prevent them fighting and competing for dominance.

Ronnie is quite tall and is in the prime of his life. He is well used to humans and likes to have visitors.  

It was many years before they were re-introduced to each other, but today they live happily together in relative harmony.

NAKIMA.....was born around 1975 and captured in the wild as a baby. She was smuggled into Belgium and later confiscated by the government and handed over to a lady who cared for chimpanzees throughout her life. Unfortunately she became unable to continue her good work and Nakima had to be put into a transit sanctuary until a permanent home could be found. The sanctuary contacted us and we took her.

Of all our chimps Nakima  behaves most like a human, getting into bed and wearing clothes. Nakima is now 35 years old, but she shows few signs of becoming a demure old lady

It presently costs £500 per day (and rising) to feed our primates. In addition they  require full time carers and cleaners and regular veterinary checks. Their heated accommodation and maintenance is also a constant drain on our resources and without help our dream of providing them with a comfortable and secure home for life will not be realised. They did not ask to be kept in captivity and many faced terrible hardships in their earlier lives, and had no future. They cannot be returned to the wild, but now they have a chance to live in dignity and peace.

You can adopt one of our chimps, or any of our other animals, for one year for a minimum payment of £ 30.00, You will get a membership card, plus an adoption certificate and a profile of your adopted animal.  Alternatively you may just wish to make a cash donation, or offer materials or services and thus become a sponsor. As a sponsor  you will also be welcome to visit us and appear on our list of sponsors.  Please send us your details using the form on our "Sponsors & Adoptions" page. Alternatively you can send a cheque made out to Wales Ape & Monkey Sanctuary, plus a note  outlining your requirements to  Wales Ape & Monkey SanctuaryCaehopkin Rd, Abercraf , Swansea Valley, SA9 1UD, Wales, United Kingdom.

Wales Ape & Monkey Sanctuary is currently home to several families of chimps as well as smaller apes and monkeys of various species. The chimps are particularly interesting because of  their wide range of  human similarities and interactions.

Fergus's older Brother Twmi steps in and "sorts him out" if he gets too rough. He can also be an absolute charmer and a real ladies man when it suits him. He attracts attention by waving his hand and loves to play tag with Graham around the cage. He is accident prone however and loves lots of sympathy.

Twmi puts on a regular display of dominance over the others in his group but is very gentle with people, especially if they bring him some costume jewellery or an old watch to play with. He is a member of the tag team and an excellent vocal impersonator.

Until we rescued Freddie on January 31st 2001 he lived a miserable existence and shuffled around in a hunched position. Today he is a healthy and happy chimp and his appearance belies his former hardships.

Tubman was captured in the wild in Liberia in the 1960s and kept by the royal family. Ashe grew larger and stronger however he was no longer seen as a pet and was put on sale in a market in Belgium. He was rescued from possibly becoming a laboratory research animal and brought to England by Mole Hall Wildlife Park. Unfortunately Mole Hall closed in 2008 due to the owner’s poor health and we brought him to our sanctuary in South Wales.  

Why is it that most captive chimps, apes, and monkeys, cannot be returned to the wild ?

(1) They do not have the skills, knowledge and awareness of danger, required for their survival.

(2) They do not have resistance to the diseases and parasites that they would encounter.

(3) Many species are social animals relying on group survival and would find it hard to be accepted by wild groups.

(4) Their natural habitat is often under severe pressure from human development.

With the help of others who care about the welfare of animals we can however give them a good quality of life with love and affection.

Learn more about chimps

Although many of our chimps have been affected by their past experiences, they have, to a greater or lesser extent, all shown remarkable improvements in both their mental and physical conditions since coming to Wales Ape & Monkey Sanctuary . Their behaviour towards each other has also improved and they have formed groups. Fergus, Twmi, Freddie, Ronnie, Nakima and Suzi have now been integrated into a large group and are getting on well together. We are very pleased for them because it is not easy to get mature chimpanzees to accept each other and live together in harmony.