Join in our cracking Easter activities

29 March-14 April

Pop along to Monkey Haven for our egg-celent egg hunts held throughout the Easter holidays, and get stuck in to the Easter crafts in the Lodge.

Throughout the day you can meet the animals at our award-winning keeper talks and animal feeds. This is your chance to learn about the many rescued creatures in our care. Our sanctuary is home to over nineteen different primate species, including some very noisy gibbons! It’s not just monkeys you’ll see – visit the reptiles and birds of prey and meet the meerkat mob. You might even get the chance to handle a snake, or get up close to Ketch the Eagle owl and Oakley the Barn owl at the daily owl talks.

Kids also get a free activity booklet which includes a stamper trail. Plus you can download our fun free App – follow trails, collect virtual bananas and see behind the scenes using the secret hot spots. 

There’s free Wifi, two kids’ play areas, a lovely gift shop and tea room where tasty treats are served throughout the day. The Haven has full accessibility and free parking.

Tickets are valid for a free return trip within 7 days! See you soon xx

Join in our cracking Easter activities2024-03-08T15:38:02+00:00

Celebrate Mother’s Day

Hey kids! Why not spoil your mum this Mother’s Day weekend and swing by Monkey Haven for a fun loving day out! 🐵💐💞

Mums go free with every paying child (3-15yrs) on Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th March! Join our wonderful keeper talks and find out about all the amazing primate mums we care for at the sanctuary 💗

You can book your tickets online or pop along and pay on the day.

ONLINE DISCOUNT CODE: Just use ‘Mothersday‘ as your discount code when you buy a child’s ticket online, and you’ll get a free ticket for mum!

Celebrate Mother’s Day2024-03-01T08:33:29+00:00

February half term

Feel the love at Monkey Haven this half term and join us for Love Week: 10-25 Feb!

Swing on by and fall in love with the rescued gibbons, monkeys, owls, meerkats and many other exotic creatures at our award-winning sanctuary as we open our doors for 2024.

Learn about the amazing rescued animals we care for at our keeper talks, held throughout the day. We’ll be focusing on love in its many forms – romances, bromances and Djimmy’s love affair with his toy piggies. This is also your chance to get up close to one of our hand reared owls and rescued reptiles.

Plus there’s a very special love story, as Xhabu the Siamang is finally reunited with his gibbon family. He suffered a stroke last year and he has been in recovery for months. He’s finally back with his best friends and loving his specially adapted new home. Find out more about Xhabu’s recovery and join us in showering our special boy with love and affection as we watch him reconcile special bonds with his best friends – it will melt your heart.

Here’s what else is happening:

  • Get crafting and make Valentines’ cards for your favourite animals and post them in our special letter box. They’ll be delivered and put up on to our love tree.
  • Follow the Love Heart trail around the sanctuary – find all the hearts to win a tasty treat.
  • 13 February – It’s Pancake Day! The animal carers will be spoiling the monkeys with their very own pancakes.
  • 24 February – Xhabu’s birthday party. Join us on this special day to celebrate our gorgeous gibbon turning 27!
  • Download our awesome free App and see behind the scenes at the secret hotspots, use fun photo filters, and follow the virtual banana trail.

The tearoom is open all day serving lovely drinks, lunch and snacks.

Make it a date and share the love with our animals. All proceeds from your visit will help support the animals you’ll meet. We can’t wait to welcome you back!

February half term2024-02-12T12:26:37+00:00

Result!

WOW! 🥳💛

THANK YOU to everyone who voted for us at the 2023 Red Funnel Isle of Wight Awards. What a night it was… our sanctuary scooped GOLD for Best Small Attraction, for the second year running. And we got SILVER for Best Green Business.

Our whole team is delighted with this recognition and the trophies will take pride of place in our awards cabinet. Thank you to Red Funnel for hosting this wonderful evening. And our congratulations go out to all the other fantastic Island businesses who were represented at the awards – they all contribute towards making the Island such a special place.

Monkey Haven is still open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until the end of November, along with our gift shop and cafe.

Result!2023-11-13T10:18:24+00:00

Goodbye Peppino

This week we had to say goodbye to our precious Peppino, the White-throated Capuchin, for the last time. A few weeks ago Pep started suffering with some age-related health issues, and despite round-the-clock care, he continued to deteriorate and we had to take the difficult decision to put him to sleep.

Peppino arrived at our sanctuary 10 years ago as a victim of the dreadful illegal pet trade. He was seized by the Italian government after being discovered chained up on a beach, used as a photo prop. Following his rescue, several unsuccessful attempts were made to introduce him into a capuchin troop. Then finally he joined us at the Haven and settled in really well, despite still bearing the physical and psychological scars from his past.

Although his scruffy appearance may look unusual to some, he was an unlikely leader and was certainly a hit with the ladies, fathering five children who will carry on his legacy!

Animal carer Terri said: “At an incredible 45 years of age, he didn’t have the best start in life, but in the last 10 years under our care he created an amazing legacy and left behind five beautiful, albeit mischievous youngsters. He will forever be remembered by all the staff at the Haven.”

Goodbye Peppino2023-10-27T16:00:28+00:00

Swing by for some fab-BOO-lous halloween fun

Saturday 21st October – Sunday 5th November 

Everyone at Monkey Haven loves halloween and we can’t wait to see you all for a SPOOK-tacular time during October half term. We’ve got FANG-tastic keeper talks throughout the day where you can find out about the minibeasts, snakes and owls, plus there’s crafts and treat trails to do!

The Haven will be celebrating International Gibbon Day (24th Oct) and throwing some special Halloween birthday parties for Bog and Bono the gorgeous gibbons, and Lin and Pumpkin the cheeky Capuchins – you’ll never guess what date Pumpkin’s birthday is!

We will be throwing little halloween parties at noon for the the birthday boys and girls:

Lin the Capuchin – 23rd Oct
Bog the Siamang – 28th Oct
Bono the Müeller’s gibbon – 30th Oct
Pumpkin the Capuchin – 31st Oct

It’s International Gibbon Day on 24th October. We look after three types of gibbons at the Haven. Don’t miss the chance to learn about these fascinating creatures at the Keeper Talks. And if you’re lucky you’ll hear the awesome gibbon chorus – they all sing to each other!

Don’t forget the 7 DAY FREE RETURN PASS you get with your first visit, so you can pop back again for double the fun!

Half term will be our last full week of opening before we shut for the winter to do some maintenance around the site. We’ll still be open for weekends during November (Friday – Sunday).

See you soon!

Swing by for some fab-BOO-lous halloween fun2023-09-15T10:15:09+00:00

30K Followers!

We’re celebrating reaching 30K followers on our Instagram account!! 🥳💛

Wow! We are so proud of the little family we have created on all of our socials and in the past year our Instagram has really grown!  We love being able to put out content of our beautiful animals singing, eating, playing & showing their day to day lives here at the Sanctuary.

Thank you for your continued love & support across all of our socials and if you don’t already follow us over there, we would love for you to join our Instagram family.

Just follow the link… instagram.com/monkey_haven

30K Followers!2023-09-06T08:31:48+00:00

Xhabu update

In early July Xhabu the Siamang, one of our most special residents, became poorly, showing symptoms consistent with having a stroke. Our vets have been liaising with specialists around the world to decide which tests are most appropriate, given the geographical challenges faced with being on the Isle of Wight with limited specialists scanners.

Xhabu had a tough couple of weeks, with our Animal Care team providing around-the-clock support to keep him fed and clean. Due to the nature of his condition it adds complexities in sedating him for further tests without compromising his recovery.

In the last week or so he has started regaining his appetite and is currently in a specially adapted room, next to his friends Bog the Siamang, and Kajan and Bono the Müeller Gibbons. Although they are still separated at present, they can see each other and communicate through the wire.

Despite facing some challenges, like developing bed sores, Xhabu has been incredibly cooperative with our keepers, allowing them to apply cream regularly to aid his healing. He’s moving around with his one good arm and leg and is eating well on his own. We’re hopeful for his continued improvement!

We’ll keep you updated on our social channels.

Xhabu update2023-09-06T08:24:05+00:00

Come and see the Capuchins fab new walkthrough enclosure

We’re so excited to announce the official opening of our new eco-enclosure built for Peppino, Lulu and their tribe of White-throated capuchins.

The gang were outgrowing their previous house so needed something a bit more spacious… and that’s exactly what they’ve got! This fab new home is one of our largest and greenest enclosures. It’s built using timber sourced from sustainable forests, with eco insulation and cedar roofs, which are very energy efficient and drastically reduce heat loss. There’s a bank of solar panels to power the enclosure, providing light and heat to keep the monkeys nice and snug in the winter.

The Capuchins have been acclimatising and getting settled in to their new space while our building team have been completing the finishing touches around the enclosure. The new home has an inside walkthrough that is now open, so you can get up close and see these fascinating animals.

They are such intelligent and inquisitive monkeys and are enjoying exploring their new surroundings, complete with waterfall, plenty of ropes to play on, and even a trampoline! Capuchins are very active and love playing, foraging, jumping and bouncing around.

Our sanctuary recently won a gold award for Best Green business 2022 and we’ve started building another eco-friendly home to accommodate more arrivals later this year.

And a huge thank you to Red Funnel and all of the generous supporters who helped fund the new enclosure.

Pop in and say hello!

Come and see the Capuchins fab new walkthrough enclosure2023-09-06T08:24:21+00:00

Say hello to the golden boys

We have just welcomed two critically endangered Yellow-breasted Capuchins (also known as Golden-bellied Capuchins) to their forever home at the Haven. Dennis and Juan are brothers who were born at Edinburgh Zoo as part of the European Endangered Species Programme. In recent years the family had fallen apart so our charity was asked to rehome them.

Monkey Haven’s founder, Don Walser, said: “We are very fortunate to be in a position to help these lovely animals. We were only able to offer them a home once we had moved our family of White-throated capuchins into their fancy new home, which we have just built. We have now finishing the refurb of the old enclosure, in time for the Dennis and Juan’s arrival on 3rd May.”

Animal carers checking the monkeys in their new enclosure

The team watch Dennis and Juan explore their new home.

Don added: “It takes a huge amount of planning to ensure the animals are moved to the Haven with as little stress as possible. And we’re grateful to Wightlink for providing ferry travel and also donating rope for the Capuchins to play on,”

Wightlink Commercial Director Phil Delaney said: “We’re really pleased to be supporting the Monkey Haven with travel to bring Dennis and Juan to their new home on the Island. We hope they quickly settle into their new surroundings and enjoy playing on the old mooring rope we have donated for their enclosure.”

Close up of a Yellow-breasted capuchin next to some rope

Dennis is having fun exploring Wightlink's old mooring ropes!

The Yellow-breasted Capuchins are native to the Atlantic rainforest in Brazil. Hunting and habitat loss has led to the population dropping by 80% over the past 50 years – there are less than 3,000 left in the wild.

In the 1980s the Brazilian government got involved with the European Endangered Species Programme to ensure that there was a genetically healthy backup population bred in captivity. So although Dennis and Juan are living at Monkey Haven, they will always belong to Brazil.

These monkeys are mostly brown and black, but get their name from the golden yellow fur that covers their upper arms, chest and stomach. They are highly vocal and communicate with each other using barks, screams, whistles and chattering.

“We are all extremely excited, it’s going to be a very happy May at Monkey Haven! Our animal carers have ensured Dennis and Juan get a VIP welcome, with lots of treats – including their favourite live bugs!” said Don.

We’re open every day from 10am if you want to swing by and meet Dennis and Juan.

Say hello to the golden boys2023-09-06T08:24:36+00:00

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