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Name: Billy

Species: Black-capped Capuchin (Sapajus apella)

Who is he? The Clumsy Teenager

Special skills: Playing boisterous games and being loud!

Adopt Billy

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Please note that overseas adoptions cannot be paid for by monthly direct debit. You can pay annually via credit/debit card.

Adopting

Adopting a monkey with Wild Futures really is a gift with a difference. Whether it’s a gift for yourself or another, you will be supporting the work of our charity and enabling us to protect primates and their habitats worldwide. The monkeys featured in the adoption scheme reside at projects run by Wild Futures. Each monkey is unique with their own characters and personalities so please do check out their monkey pictures and profiles. As a Monkey adopter you will receive:

  • A cuddly monkey toy (optional)
  • Personalised certificate of your adoption
  • Photo of your adopted monkey
  • Your monkey’s story
  • Species factsheet
  • Wild Futures newsletters throughout the year
  • Discounted entry fee to our Monkey Sanctuary

About Billy

Name: Billy

Species: Black-capped Capuchin (Sapajus apella)

Who is he? The Clumsy Teenager

Special skills: Playing boisterous games and being loud!

Billy arrived as a youngster at Wild Futures’ Monkey Sanctuary in January 2012. Sadly, the details of his past are not fully certain, but we know that he was born in a zoo somewhere in Eastern Europe, from where he was sold into the primate pet trade and smuggled into the UK. When he arrived, Billy was still young and impressionable and desperately wanted to play with all of his new monkey friends, but his social skills were seriously lacking and he had a lot to learn about capuchin social do's and don'ts! 

Luckily, Billy is a very quick learner and is also very brave. Not self-pitying, when told off by the other monkeys, he doesn't sulk but patiently waits to be able to play again. Billy has learnt a great deal about being a monkey since his arrival and has grown into a strong and confident alpha of his own little group. He is still prone to anxieties, probably a result from not having enough social lessons in his early years, but he is learning how to cope with them. 

As a rather large monkey, Billy doesn't always realise that he can come across as rather intimidating to the other monkeys on first impressions. He always means well, he just doesn't realise his own size!

Primates are intelligent and sociable animals and being kept as pets is a lonely, under-stimulating existence that can lead to abnormal behaviours. These behaviours may remain with the monkeys for the rest of their lives, but with enough environmental stimulation, social company, and lots of territory space with access to branches and trees, we can help these monkeys recover and offer them a stable, stimulating, and social life at the Sanctuary.

Adopting Billy means that you are helping to provide the resources needed to give Billy the best life possible. Your adoption also enables Wild Futures to continue its vital work campaigning for an end to the primate pet trade in the UK and abroad.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Our adoptions are purely symbolic, which means you will not receive any real animals in the post! Monkeys are wild animals – not domesticated pets.

The need for rescue and rehabilitation of primates from private ownership:

  • There are at least 5,000 privately owned primates in the UK
  • All monkeys are wild animals and inherently unsuitable for keeping in domestic situations.
  • UK law allows for the legal keeping of primates as pets, despite lack of recognised care standards and insufficient enforcement of licensing laws, leading to many pet primates being kept in inadequate conditions.
  • Lack of adequate species knowledge, diet, veterinary care, social opportunity and space leads to mental, physical and emotional suffering for pet primates.

How our sanctuary meets their needs:

  • We guarantee a home for life for all rescued monkeys.
  • We give individuals the opportunity to socialise and form natural bonds with other monkeys.
  • We provide an expert team of carers with the relevant skills to meet the complex physical, social and emotional needs of each individual.
  • We have a high carer-to-monkey ratio which ensures that all needs are met, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Our charity receives no government funding, so financial support is vital to allow us to continue our important work.

By purchasing a symbolic monkey adoption, you are agreeing to our Terms and Conditions.