Safe home for rescued marmosets
10th January 2017

PILKINGTON is helping to build a new home for rescued pet marmosets at The Monkey Sanctuary in Cornwall.

Wild Futures, the primate conservation and welfare charity that runs The Monkey Sanctuary, is raising £70,000 to build a new complex of spacious indoor and outdoor enclosures to re-home rescued marmosets from across the UK, providing a stimulating environment with natural vegetation, branches, platforms and hiding places.

Pilkington has donated insulating glass units incorporating its OptiView Protect anti-reflective laminated glass to enable carers and visitors to observe the monkeys without any disturbance, as well as providing enhanced safety, security and durability.

Pilkington sales manager Garry Parrot said: “Wild Futures is working tirelessly to combat animal cruelty, and its new enclosure will provide a much-needed home for rescued marmosets. It’s important that these animals are kept safe, but also that their behaviour can be monitored and observed. Our anti-reflective glass is ideal for use in this situation.”

There are approximately 5,000 primates kept as pets in the UK today, and marmosets are becoming a common victim of this trade. As a result of this, they often suffer from physiological and psychological problems. The sanctuary will help to rehabilitate those rescued from the pet trade by mirroring the marmosets’ natural habitat and allowing them to express instinctive behaviours, while socialising with their own species.

Sarah Hanson, Campaigns Officer at Wild Futures, added: “Marmosets are intelligent animals who naturally live in groups in the rainforests of South America. These tropical monkeys are the tiniest victims of the UK primate pet trade and are becoming increasingly common.

“We’re doing all that we can to build a new home for these animals and the donation from Pilkington will help us to create an area that not only accommodates the marmosets, but enables us to help raise awareness of the issue. We have more than 25,000 visitors every year and it’s important for people to observe monkeys in a natural environment so they can understand why they shouldn’t be kept as pets.”

www.wildfutures.org
www.pilkington.co.uk