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Name: Morwella

Species: Weeper Capuchin (Cebus olivaceus)

Who is she? The Tough Little Ex-Pet

Special skills: Being everyone’s friend

Adopt Morwella

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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 Morwella

Name: Morwella

Species: Weeper Capuchin (Cebus olivaceus)

Who is she? The Tough Little Ex-Pet

Special skills: Being everyone’s friend

Morwella arrived at Wild Futures Monkey Sanctuary in March 2012. We had been contacted and made aware of her existence a few years earlier, but it wasn’t until the passing of her elderly cage neighbour and presumed father, Fudge, that the Sanctuary was asked to give her a permanent home with other monkeys. Morwella spent around 25 years as a pet, but is now enjoying life with her new monkey friends. She has settled into our weeper capuchin group extremely well and it is Morwella who is always quick to initiate and show solidarity with them - often against her carers!

Previous to her arrival, we had been made aware that Morwella may be suffering from some serious health issues. Thankfully, during her initial veterinary check, our worst fears could be eliminated. However, she does have some benign mammary tumours, mild arthritis and she showed a deficiency in vitamin D3. Her patchy fur indicates that she may have had a tendency to pluck out her own hair in the past – a common symptom of extreme boredom and stress within pet monkeys. 

Within a month of Morwella’s arrival, she had made friends with the alpha male in our weeper capuchin group, enabling her to gain significant respect. Morwella then went on to completely turn the head of Mr Monkey, who could hardly take his eyes off her! The introductions with Chanel were a bit bumpier, but showed Morwella’s heartiest attempts to make friends at any cost, and her ability to adapt her behaviour according to the monkey she was meeting. 

She is now a permanent and vital member of the group, rising up the political rankings to become the alpha female. So, perhaps unsurprisingly, we have discovered her to be in possession of a truly wild spirit - despite her long life as a pet.

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 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 Morwella means that you are helping to provide the resources needed to give Morwella 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.