The late Simon and Peggy Templer were a British couple who lived in Spain, where they dedicated their lives in rescuing mistreated chimpanzees used by photographers on beach resorts. The country had become a focus of the trade in chimpanzees for the tourist industry, and these apes would be severely abused. Simon and his wife Peggy took it in their role of persuading the Spanish authorities (Guardia Civil) to confiscate the chimps and provide them a more safe environment.[1]
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Simon and Peggy had moved to Spain from their natal country, Britain. Their life long ambition of rescuing chimps started in 1978 when there was a plight of baby chimps being smuggled into Spain from Africa to be sold on the market, then purchased by photographers who used them as props for the tourist industry on the beaches. The apes would be physically and mentally abused- being given drugs to keep them calm, beaten to remain sedate, poor diet intake, have their teeth knocked out to prevent them biting and would be killed after becoming uncontrollable. The Templers started their mission of trying to put an end to this trade and mistreatment of chimpanzees by recruiting assistance from the Spanish Authorities, the Guardia Civil Council, to confiscate the beach chimps and allow Simon and Peggy to build a small half-way house in which to house them. The Templers battled to save every single beach chimp and given them a home at their half-way house. Although their rescue missions were good, there was a dilemma. Their small half-way house could not accommodate all the chimpanzees, and therefore a bigger solution was needed.
In 1986, a man called Jim Cronin approached the Templers and discussed on how he could possibly help. Cronin had an ambition of building a rescue centre for primates and their ideas matched. Simon and Peggy needed to find a much bigger accommodation for their beloved chimps and Jim promised to build a sanctuary in Dorset, England to rehome the chimpanzees. By 1987, Jim Cronin set up Monkey World and was able rehome the Templer's chimpanzees and given them all a permanent, safe home at Monkey World. To this day all the chimpanzees at Monkey World who were rescued from Spanish beach photographers were save by the Templers in the mid 1980s.
The MONA Chimpanzee Sanctuary was founded by Simon and Peggy Templer within southern Barcelona, Spain. The centre was set up to provide a sanctuary for abused beach chimpanzees used by photographers on beach resorts. MONA has provided a home to confiscated beach chimps as well as providing a home to a few barbary macaques at the centre today.
Simon Templer died in March 1997 while on holiday in Nairobi, Kenya. Peggy Templer died a couple of years later. This extraordinery couple have made a real difference in the lives of many chimpanzees rescued from Spanish beaches and their legacy continues in the form of the two chimpanzee rescue centres they helped to form.