19 ARC Winter 2001
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Issue 19:: Winter 2001 Price £1.00 If you remember back to 1999, you may recall front. It was clear that Cookie’s days on the boat that Jim Cronin told the story of a young were numbered. At that time however, there was not chimpanzee named Cookie that had been a lot that could be done as a massive earthquake hit smuggled from the wild to be sold as a pet in Turkey on 17 August 1999. Thousands of people were either dead or injured and it would not have Bodrum, Turkey. The small female chimp been appropriate for the Monkey World team to spent her days tethered to a boat in Bodrum question the Turkish Government about the welfare Harbour and was sometimes taken out late at of a young chimpanzee. night on a “disco cruise” to entertain party goers. Sadly for Cookie, her short life had After two years, Jim and Alison decided that it was time to revisit Turkey and to see if they could find been one of trauma and misery. out what ever happened to Cookie. They called the At a very young age hunters will have killed her Bellerive Foundation in Switzerland, a mother and probably several others in her family conservation organization set up and run by group. The adult chimps will have been butchered Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan. The Prince was also and eaten while the small baby would be shoved concerned about what the illegal pet trade was into a basket and taken to a local African village. doing to the survival of wild chimpanzees and he From there the chimp would have been sold to agreed to help. The Bellerive Foundation made people who were prepared to try and smuggle wild contact with friends in Turkey and within 24 hours animals into Europe for the illegal pet trade. Jim and Alison were called with news about Cookie in Having been working in Turkey since 1998, Jim and Cookie. As it turned out, Cookie had become her new home Alison Cronin know that most of the chimpanzees unmanageable on the boat in Bodrum and had that are smuggled into Turkey come from two been sold to a couple 500 miles away in Istanbul! want her to be able to live with other chimpanzees Nigerian men that are willing to take orders for Following a couple of phone calls, Jim and Alison African wildlife. The Turkish Government signed in natural surroundings. As soon as the family is agreed to fly over to meet Cookie and her new ready to say goodbye, Cookie will be able to come the Convention on the International Trade in family, Çemil and Dilnur Barlas. As they walked Endangered Species (CITES) in 1996 which makes to Monkey World and meet her adopted family in through the door of Cookie’s home, they were the Nursery Group. trading in endangered animals illegal. However, greeted by a much larger chimp than Jim had first On the same trip to Turkey, Jim and Alison also these relatively new laws in Turkey are not always met. Whether or not she remembered Jim is hard to wanted to meet another, more famous chimpanzee enforced as they have not yet been given financial say, but in an instant she jumped into Jim’s arms called Çarli (pronounced Charlie). Over the past or bureaucratic support. and gave him a big hello. Cookie was clearly one few years in Turkey the illegal trade in smuggled of the very few lucky ones. While she did not have At the time that Jim found Cookie, she was chimpanzees has grown as it has became the companionship of other chimpanzees, she had approximately 2-3 years old and was starting to fashionable to keep them as pets. The Monkey been taken in by a caring family that wanted to become a problem on the boat. Young chimpanzees World team has compiled a long list of make sure that she had a safe and nice home. At are naturally boisterous and Cookie regularly chimpanzees either for sale or being mistreated in managed to escape and run riot along the harbour 4-5 years old, Cookie is now very strong – both physically and mentally. She is kept on a long lead Continued on page 2 Cookie on the in order to keep her from tearing things apart and Jim with Cookie in 1999 boat in 1999 potentially doing harm to herself and/or the house. She still gets very excited and if Cookie does not get her own way, she often bites anyone around her. While the Barlas family loves her very much they know that she will not be able to live in their house much longer. She is getting too big and strong and she has a need to be with others of her own kind. Sadly it is the same story that we hear over and over again. In the end, monkeys and apes are wild animals and do not make good pets because they grow up, become dangerous and need the companionship of their own kind. But Cookie is lucky because she now has caring owners that Continued ver the past few months we have been very Istanbul, Ankara, Bodrum, Marmaris, and Ismir a cage and it was then that Jim and Alison realized busy organizing arrangements for future and it is all because of one chimp named Çarli the total sadness of his life. When Çarli is with Oarrivals, collecting individuals that need our (pronounced Charlie). Çarli was born in captivity people he is usually quite scared as he is expected help, investigating reports of illegal primates as well in Los Angeles and originally belonged to a to perform and he does not want to make mistakes as making sure that all of our “unexpected” additions company called Animal Actors of Hollywood. This for his trainer. After all that, Çarli is then left in a are coming along as they should. Now that Cookie company trained Çarli to perform various tricks cage in a basement to face his own lonely existence. has been found again we are hopeful that Monkey World will be able to offer her a permanent home for television. One of his first jobs was to work in The trainer hopes to be able to work Çarli for with companionship of her own kind. Of course we Turkey making a situation comedy series about a another 2 years and then at that time he would like also hope that we will be able to help Çarli as well chimp that lives with a Turkish family. Çarli to come to Monkey World. in future. Immediately the Turkish public Thanks are owed to many people but in particular we went crazy about chimpanzees would like to thank Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan and and started buying babies from the the Bellerive Foundation in Switzerland for black market. Having a baby finding Cookie in Istanbul. Without their assistance we chimp was a sign of wealth and would have never tracked Cookie down and been able many people thought that they too to offer her a secure future. Jim Knight, our MP has may become famous and wealthy been very helpful supporting our international ape if they owned a chimpanzee. rescue work have also received a great deal of support Every year Çarli was flown back from people who have sent in donations, have put out and forth from LA to Istanbul. collection boxes, and have given us vouchers for Finally the producers of the supermarkets, donations from premium bonds, programmes decided to purchase commissions from catalogue sales, and sponsorship from the London Marathon. The monkeys and apes Çarli and he was once again sent over from America for $60,000 – have also received many kind donations of vitamins/oil Cookie at home capsules, fruit/vegetables, nuts, rope, dog toys, and but this time it was for good. baby oil. The Milborne St Andrew Youth Club raised After hearing so much about Çarli for so many Many people do not understand that using money for the primates by organizing a fete while The years, Jim and Alison wanted to see him for chimpanzees in television or movie work is a bad Dolphin Centre Traders’ Association sent in donations from a water feature. Sainsburys, Lyndhurst themselves so arrangements were made for an thing. Most performing chimpanzees have to be Road brought us left over pumpkins to feed, Sim s “interview” with Çarli. When he was brought into removed from their mother’s at birth so the Metal, Wimborne gave a donation for removing scrap the room to meet everyone, it was clear that Çarli training process can begin. Then they are doomed metal, and Poole Hospital donated unwanted medical was not a very happy chimp. His feet were forced to a life of solitary confinement and unnatural equipment. BT Customer Accounts Department, into trainers which must have been quite painful as behaviour. It is clear that this type of entertainment Bournemouth organized a dressing down day for a chimp’s feet are shaped like human hands with is not only bad for the chimps being forced to donations, the Odeon Cinema, Edinburgh raffled a the big toe pointing out sideways. He limped into perform but also for the impression that it gives banner from Planet of the Apes, Rymill Property the room and waited to see what was going to be people about the animal’s and their needs. All the Developments sent in a generous donation, while asked of him. Çarli was supposedly 8 years old yet chimpanzee that are being stolen from the wild for Weymouth and District Round Table No.