WE ARE A TRUE PRIMATE RESCUE CENTRE

Here at Oasis…

We work to provide all rescued animals a balanced diet, environmental enrichment and daily medical grooming, in order to increase positive experiences and reduce abnormal behaviours resulting from their sad past. At Oasis Park we do not breed rescued primates.

Why are they here?

Illegal trafficking is a problem which threatens numerous species, today involving as much money as drug and firearm trafficking. In Europe, thousands of animals live hidden from the authorities, and hundreds arrive through our ports and airports to be sold as pets or exploited for breeding.

The primates that live in the Oasis Park Fuerteventura installations come from seizures by authorities that find them in illegal pet shops, with private owners, or traffickers that capture them in their natural habitat. All of them have lived in terrible conditions, and were rescued by Stichting AAP, who decided to send them to our centre to live happier lives.

Why aren’t they released?

These primates have behavioural problems. They do not know how to act as they would in nature: communicating, looking for food or shelter, and protecting themselves from predators are things that they have not learned. They would not be accepted in any social group, and their release would therefore be a death sentence.

A long recovery

In their past lives, these animals have acquired unhealthy habits: drinking soft drinks or alcohol, smoking, dressing in clothes, brushing their teeth, eating processed foods, living in a small space – all of this makes them think they are humans instead of primates and that they have serious deformities. When they arrive here, we have to re-educate them so that they behave like monkeys and learn to live with others of their species. The recovery time is different for each animal, but we always try to adapt to their needs.