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About Jungle Friends | A Brief History of Jungle Friends
Jungle Friends Activities
Primate Rescue and Rehabilitation. Jungle Friends rescues and houses or finds placement for primates in need of help from across the country. We currently house over 100 New World monkeys, all species native to Central and South America who have been imported or bred in captivity. About 65% of our monkeys are cast-offs of the exotic pet trade, and 35% retired from laboratory research. Many of our residents arrive with psychological and physical problems as a result of being isolated, neglected, malnourished, or abused. The primary goal of our organization is to rehabilitate our monkeys medically and psychologically and ultimately socialize them with members of their own species. Through our unique primate housing system and socialization procedures, Jungle Friends has successfully integrated our monkeys into groups of varying sizes who live in heavily enriched, spacious indoor/outdoor habitats.
Outreach and Education. Jungle Friends offers a "Born to Be Wild" PowerPoint presentation and has created videos entitled "Born to Be Wild" and the "The Hundredth Monkey". These programs inform the public of the plight of exotic animals as 'pets' and animals being 'used' in research. We stress the importance of taking action to defend and protect the other species inhabiting our planet. We offer our programs at no charge to schools, libraries, museums, conferences and other groups and organizations. Jungle Friends presented at the Animal Rights 2007, 2008 and 2009 Conferences in Los Angeles and Washington DC, International Primate Protection League Conference in 2006, Chicago's Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum (in conjunction with Jane Goodall's lecture series) in 2003, the Compassion for Animals Symposium and many other venues. Our videos are distributed both over the internet and on DVD.
Internship Program and New Sanctuary Assistance. Jungle Friends offers internships from eight weeks up to one year. Interns come from all over the U.S. and around the world to learn about primate care and sanctuary operations. Interns participate in daily animal care to gain hands-on experience in all aspects of caring for captive primates. Subject areas include proper interaction with primates, environmental enrichment, nutrition and feeding, enclosure cleaning, habitat building and maintenance, restraint and capture procedures, and socialization techniques. Interns learn specifics of natural and unnatural primate behavior and needs, how to interpret vocalizations, expressions and behaviors, and how to use this knowledge to ensure the well-being of their charges. For those interested in working at or founding a sanctuary we offer the opportunity to participate in and learn the business side of running a non-profit organization, including fundraising, grant writing, donor and financial recordkeeping. So far, two of our past interns have established animal sanctuaries and others are working toward that goal. We have also had the opportunity to provide both mentoring and some material assistance for several newly established sanctuaries.
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