Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary is an

animal sanctuary An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and to be protected for the rest of their lives. In addition, sanctuaries are an experimental staging ground for transformative human–animal relations. There are five types of ...

between

Caehopkin Caehopkin () is a village in Powys, Wales. It lies between Abercraf and Coelbren, Powys, Coelbren in the Swansea Valley on the border of the Brecon Beacons, Brecon Beacons National Park. Previously it was a mining community, however many of the ...

and

Abercraf Abercraf (also ; or Abercrave) is a village in Powys, Wales, in the community of Ystradgynlais and within the historic boundaries of the county of Brecknockshire. A distinct dialect of English is spoken in the village, as well as the Welsh lang ...

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It became the Wales Ape & Monkey Sanctuary in December 2008, being previously known as Cefn-yr-Erw Primate Sanctuary. The sanctuary is owned and operated by husband and wife Graham and Jan Garen. Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary cabin

Cefn-yr-Erw had been a traditional

hill farm Hill farming or Terrace Farming, terrace farming is an extensive farming in Highland (geography), upland areas, primarily rearing sheep, although historically cattle were often reared extensively in Upland pasture, upland areas. Fell farming is t ...

, when Jan inherited it from her father. Jan first acquired a Vietnamese Potbelly Pig and later some

marmoset The marmosets (), also known as zaris or sagoin, are twenty-two New World monkey species of the genera '' Callithrix'', '' Cebuella'', '' Callibella'', and ''Mico''. All four genera are part of the biological family Callitrichidae. The term ...

goats The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the famil ...

capybaras The capybara or greater capybara (''Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris'') is the largest living rodent, native to South America. It is a member of the genus ''Hydrochoerus''. The only other extant member is the lesser capybara (''Hydrochoerus isthmiu ...

and several traditional farm animals. Jan married Graham Garen in 1994 and the sanctuary continued to develop. When

Penscynor Wildlife Park Penscynor Wildlife Park was a wildlife and safari park located near Neath in South Wales. History In 1966, Neath builder Idris Hale bought the semi-derelict Penscynor House in Cilfrew. The grounds then became home to a large collection of ex ...

closed in 1998, the sanctuary took seven unwanted

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...

s from the park and were able to house them from 21 February 1999 within the sanctuary. They would have been shot without the intervention of the sanctuary. The sanctuary now rescues and provides a final home for many types of unwanted animals, in particular chimpanzees,

baboon Baboons are primates comprising the biology, genus ''Papio'', one of the 23 genera of Old World monkeys, in the family Cercopithecidae. There are six species of baboon: the hamadryas baboon, the Guinea baboon, the olive baboon, the yellow ba ...

spider monkey Spider monkeys are New World monkeys belonging to the genus ''Ateles'', part of the subfamily Atelinae, family Atelidae. Like other atelines, they are found in tropical forests of Central and South America, from southern Mexico to Brazil. The g ...

capuchins Capuchin can refer to: *Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, an order of Roman Catholic friars *Capuchin Poor Clares, an order of Roman Catholic contemplative religious sisters *Capuchin monkey, primates of the genus ''Cebus'' and ''Sapajus'', named af ...

and marmosets. As the animals that they rescue are not able to survive in the wild, they try to make the rest of the animals' lives as enjoyable as possible. The sanctuary has a policy of not breeding any animals. The sanctuary receives no funding from the UK government, Welsh governments or local councils and therefore relies donations from the public and also from the entrance fee to its 30,000 visitors a year. It is a registered charity (Charity ID:1076645).

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* * Primate sanctuaries Tourist attractions in Powys Buildings and structures in Powys Swansea Valley Zoos in Wales 2008 establishments in Wales {{Primate-stub

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