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James "Jim" Michael Cronin MBE (15 November 1951–17 March 2007) was the founder in 1987 of Monkey World in Dorset, England, a sanctuary for abused and neglected primates. He was 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 awarded an honorary MBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 2006 for services to animal welfare.

Early life

Cronin was born in Yonkers, New York, of Italian-Irish parents, the son of a union official. After leaving high school, he had a number of jobs in the U.S. before becoming a keeper at Bronx Zoo in the 1970s, where he discovered that he wanted to work with animals. In 1980, he moved to Kent in the UK to work in John Aspinall's zoo.^[1]

Monkey World

In 1987, Cronin leased a 65-acre (26 ha) pig farm near Wool, Dorset, after hearing about a group of nine baby chimps being drugged and used as props by photographers on a Spanish beach. He persuaded the Spanish government to seize the chimps after promising to give them a sanctuary. Monkey World now houses more than 160 abused or neglected primates of 13 different species from 14 countries, and has the largest collection of chimpanzees outside of Africa.

In 1993 Alison Ames, an authority on animal behaviour and Cambridge graduate in biological anthropology, arrived at Monkey World. She and Cronin were married in 1996, from then on running Monkey World as a combined venture.^[2]

In 2006, Cronin was awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II for services to animal welfare. Cronin has also received the Jane Goodall Award.

The series Monkey Business (made by Meridian Broadcasting and shown on ITV Meridian in the UK and on Animal Planet worldwide) has documented the Cronin's frequent rescue missions and undercover investigations throughout Europe and Asia for the past 10 years. Animal Planet will be airing new programs in the USA in the fall.

Monkey Business has now been replaced with Monkey Life, which also documents the goings-on within Monkey World.

Cronin died at the Cabrini Medical Center, Manhattan, New York, on 17 March 2007, following a brief battle with liver cancer. His wife Alison is now in charge of Monkey World.

Notes

External links

• Monkey World
• Notice of death