James "Jim" Michael Cronin MBE (15 November 1951 – 17 March 2007) was the founder in 1987 of Monkey World in Dorset, England, a sanctuary for abused and neglected primates.
He was widely acknowledged as an international expert in the rescue and rehabilitation of abused primates, and in the enforcement of international treaties aimed at protecting them from illegal trade and experimentation.
In 2006, Cronin was awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II for services to animal welfare. Cronin has also received the Jane Goodall Award.
Cronin died at the Cabrini Medical Center, Manhattan, New York, on 17 March 2007, following a brief battle with liver cancer. His wife Alison is now in charge of Monkey World.
Monkey World ( fully referred to as Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre) is a 65-acre (26.3 ha) ape and monkey sanctuary and rescue centre near Wool, Dorset, England.
Set up in 1987 by the late Jim Cronin, and later operated by both him and his wife Alison, it was originally intended to provide a home for abused chimpanzees used as props by Spanish beach photographers, but is now home to many different species of primates.
Monkey World works with foreign governments to stop the illegal smuggling of wild primates.
The facility made the news in January 2008 with what The Guardian called "the world's biggest rescue mission of its kind," when it saved 88 capuchin monkeys from a laboratory in Santiago, Chile, where some of the animals had been kept in solitary cages for up to 20 years.
The operation was carried out at the request of the laboratory, and with help from the Chilean Air Force, who flew the animals to Bournemouth airport with special permission from the British government.
In August 2010 Monkey World rescued a Bornean Orang-utan called Oshine from Johannesburg, South Africa. On December 7, 2010 Monkey World rescued an orphan baby Sumatran Orang-utan called Silvestre from a zoo in Spain. In January 2011, Monkey World rescued a chimpanzee named Kiki from Lebanon.
