Alison Lorraine Cronin, MBE (born September 1966) is the American director of

Monkey World The Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre is a ape and monkey sanctuary, rescue centre and primatarium near Wool, Dorset, England. History Set up in 1987 by Jim Cronin with assistance from both Jeremy Keeling and later operated by both Cronin a ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, England, a sanctuary for abused and neglected primates. She is widely acknowledged as an international expert in the rescue and rehabilitation of abused primates, and in the enforcement of international treaties aimed at protecting them from illegal trade and experimentation. Cronin was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in 2006 for Services to Animal Welfare along with her husband as well as for founding the Endangered Asian Species Trust.

Early life and career

Cronin was born in September 1966 as Alison Lorraine Ames in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, California. She studied physical anthropology at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. It was while she was living in the UK that she met Jim Cronin at Monkey World in 1993. They married in 1996. They were joint directors of Monkey World. After her husband died, Cronin continued running the site and working against animal smuggling and the pet trade. Cronin became known through the television series '' Monkey Business'' (made by

Meridian Broadcasting ITV Meridian (previously Meridian Broadcasting) is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station was launched at midnight on 1 January 1993, replacing previous broadcaster Television South, and is owned ...

and shown on ITV Meridian in the UK and on

Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel focusing on the animal kingdom owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1 ...

worldwide) which has documented the frequent rescue missions and undercover investigations throughout Europe and Asia. The show began in 1998 with ''Monkey Business'' which was then replaced with '' Monkey Life'' in 2007. It covers the low and high-profile rescues, one of the most dramatic being in January 2008 when Cronin led a huge rescue of 88 Capuchin monkeys from

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. In 2008, Cronin led the creation of the Dao Tien Endangered Primate Rescue Centre located in

Cát Tiên National Park Cát Tiên National Park () is a national park located in the south of Vietnam, in the provinces of Đồng Nai province, Đồng Nai, Bình Phước province, Bình Phước and Lâm Đồng province, Lâm Đồng. It is approximately 150 k ...

Southern Vietnam Southern Vietnam () is one of the three geographical regions of Vietnam, the other two being Northern and Central Vietnam. It includes 2 administrative subregions, which in turn are divided into 19 ''First Tier units'', of which 17 are provi ...

which is a rescue, rehabilitation, and release centre focusing on golden-cheeked gibbons, black-shanked douc langurs, silvered langurs, and pygmy loris. Cronin has written on primates as well as fought to get legislation changed to protect the primates. In 2018, Cronin was awarded an honorary degree from

Oxford Brookes University Oxford Brookes University (OBU; formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic) is a public university, public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. Th ...

for her work.

References

External links

Monkey World
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cronin, Alison 1966 births 21st-century American zoologists American animal welfare workers American emigrants to England Living people Members of the Order of the British Empire Women primatologists People associated with Oxford Brookes University