Born Free USA Blog
by Will Travers,
Chief Executive Officer
What can you say about a big-hearted bloke who has rescued dolphins, tigers, elephants and more and whose parents once helped a lion cub from a department store by caring for him in their backyard and engineering his rightful return to Africa? You can safely say that he's got great animal instincts! In 1984, Will Travers joined his parents — "Born Free" film stars Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers — to form what became The Born Free Foundation. With knowledge, passion and compassion dripping from his every word, Will's blogs are sure to make you embrace our crusade to Keep Wildlife in the Wild ®.
Make Way for Mississippi Mac!
This week, we helped save another monkey’s life. That alone means we had a very good week.
The adult male rhesus macaque who had been cruelly confined to a small cage and treated as a roadside attraction in Mississippi now begins a new life at the Born Free USA Primate Sanctuary, where he will learn how to truly be a monkey for the first time in his life. We are grateful to The Humane Society of the United States for having uncovered this cruelty and engineered the rescue, and we are thrilled to be able to give the macaque a new, infinitely less confining lease on life.
And as you perhaps know, more such good news is on the way. Before summer, we plan to welcome 112 more macaques, and a baboon, to our sanctuary. They’re coming to us from the bankrupt Wild Animal Orphanage in San Antonio. We have much to do to prepare, including building enclosures and making sure all the monkeys have received the necessary veterinary care, but their arrival is assured and we will keep you abreast of the latest developments.
Our short-term goal is to make sure every monkey in need has a home — a permanent home, a peaceful home, a home that puts his or her interests front and center. Our long-term goal is to change minds and change policies and change practices in this country so that no monkeys will be cruelly confined ever again.
Find out more about our sanctuary’s rescues, and find links to photos and videos, in our special online section.
Blogging off,
Will
