Kari Bagnall–founder and executive director of Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary, which offers permanent care to nearly 200 monkeys retired from laboratory research, who are former pets, or have been confiscated by the authorities—recalls the first monkey that entered her world and forever altered her life.
As part of this account, Bagnall describes creating the earliest iteration of Jungle Friends, and we go on to discuss the array of challenges faced by those who run animal sanctuaries.
These involve enormous commitments, and enormous sacrifices—often including having your home on the premises, endless hours (always being on duty), dealing around the clock with animal illness —and these things don’t begin to address the enormous financial burden of food and veterinary care, and the related, relentless demands for fundraising.
Some challenges are unique to the animals housed at a given sanctuary, and to that end, Bagnall underscores the difficulty of keeping Jungle Friends fully staffed, noting she’s currently hiring, and outlining the multi-day interview/job tryout protocol—across three of the facility’s monkey sections (Munchkin Land, Emerald City, Kansas) –that prospective employees undergo.
Bagnall mentions that anyone interested in applying for a job there is invited to send an email to Applicant@JungleFriends.org.
She explains how particular monkeys—and in some cases, groups of monkeys—came to live at Jungle Friends, noting that animals formerly used in research tend to arrive in bunches. She confirms that this activity over the years accounts for the monkey population reaching nearly 200, about double the number when I previously interviewed Bagnall in 2013.
Nonetheless, Bagnall says Jungle Friends is not tapped out on space—indeed, their property spans some 42 acres, so there’s plenty of land left. Still, there are constraints to expanding the primate populace, owing to limitations of staffing and funding.
She spells out there are multiple ways to support Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary, including via The Amazing Give, an annual fundraising gambit based in and around Gainesville, FL, slated for April 24 or donating directly from the website.
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