Fund a Need at the Primate Sanctuary
Want to have a BIG impact? These are some of the biggest needs at our primate sanctuary — items that make a huge difference in the lives of our monkey. By funding one of these needs you can improve enclosures, support veterinary care or medication, keep our monkeys entertained through enrichment, or help pay for the cost of feeding hundreds of monkeys each day. Ask about plaque and naming opportunities if you want your loved one honored at the primate sanctuary.
Here are the needs that you can currently fund:
— Half the Cost of a Warm House: $10,000
— All-Terrain Vehicle: $8,400
— Month’s Supply of Bananas: $1,000
— Two Heaters for Enclosures: $500
— Enrichment for the Monkeys: $250
Scroll below to learn why each item is so important!
Half the Cost of a Warm House – $10,000
We are looking to purchase warm houses for the monkeys at the Born Free USA Primate sanctuary to ensure our aging population of monkeys has a safe, warm and sheltered space. Not only do warm houses provide effective shelter and warmth, they also provide a cool space out of the sun during the summer. These warm houses each cost $20,000 and ideally we would like each enclosure to have one of these shelters.
All Terrain Vehicles – $8,400
Our primate sanctuary is the largest in the United States at a sprawling 175 acres. Our main enclosure alone is 56 acres, approximately the size of 42 football fields – filled with dense brush and unpaved trails. To provide those monkeys with the highest quality of care possible we need to be able to reliably reach them and monitor their enclosures for maintenance. Whether it is a blistering hot or a storm-soaked muddy day, our small team needs to get to monkeys who need help or enclosures that require servicing… and they need vehicles that can handle the terrain. We are looking for support purchasing new all-terrain vehicles that will meet these requirements and have affordable maintenance.
Go Bananas! Pay for a month’s supply of bananas. Our monkeys do love their bananas! – $1,000
We spend a large portion of our budget on feeding the monkeys under our care, just over $141,000 per year. Your donation of $1,000 will help provide a month’s worth of bananas for the monkeys. These are not just treats for the monkeys, but are used to dispense critical medications, particularly for senior monkeys… and they love them!
Heaters for monkey enclosures – $500
When most people think of Texas, they think of the cacti and the hot summers – but what you may not realize is the winters at our primate sanctuary can be just as brutal. A donation of $500 covers nearly the cost of 2 heaters and piping/connectors. Due to building new enclosures and old heaters reaching the end of their lifespan, we are always in need of new heaters. Please help us keep the monkeys warm in winter. This will help the most vulnerable of our monkeys who need a safe and warm environment to get them through the cold nights.
Enrichment for the monkeys – $250
We strive to provide the monkeys residents in our care with conditions as close as possible to the wild. This includes ample space, opportunities to explore and socialize, a high-quality diet, and tons of enrichment – puzzles, toys, climbing structures, and other items and activities that help the monkeys’ inquisitive, intelligent minds stay active and interested in their environment.
The key to a strong enrichment program is to provide items or activities for the monkeys to explore, figure out, and play with and for those items and activities to be regularly changing – novelty is vital! Our team spends time each day working out new and innovative ways in which to enrich the lives of our residents here at the Sanctuary but we need your help to take our enrichment program to the next level! For the monkeys at our Primate Sanctuary, these enrichment items are more than just fun and games – they are critical for living the happiest and healthiest lives possible!
Sanctuary Stories
March 19, 2024
The Numbers that Matter
8
Monkeys rehomed to Born Free USA's primate sanctuary in 2020 - 2021.
175
Size of Born Free USA's Primate Sanctuary in south Texas, in acres.
11
Species of monkey at the Primate Sanctuary: bonnet macaque, long-tailed macaque, pig-tailed macaque, rhesus macaque, stump-tailed macaque, Japanese macaque, olive baboon, hamadryas baboon, Guinea baboon, African vervet, and tantalus monkey.
12
Primate Sanctuary monkeys who can be symbolically adopted.