Jim Cronin
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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.
Cronin was awarded an honorary MBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 2006 for services to animal welfare.
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[edit] Early life
Cronin was born in Yonkers, New York of Italian-Irish parents, the son of a union official. After leaving high school, he had a number of jobs in the U.S. before becoming a keeper at Bronx Zoo in the 1970s, where he discovered that he wanted to work with animals. In 1980, he moved to Kent in the UK to work in John Aspinall's zoo.[1]
[edit] Monkey World
In 1987, Cronin leased a 65-acre pig farm near Wool, Dorset, after hearing about a group of nine baby chimps being drugged and used as props by photographers on a Spanish beach. He persuaded the Spanish government to seize the chimps after promising to give them a sanctuary. Monkey World now houses more than 160 abused or neglected primates of 13 different species from 14 countries, and has the largest collection of chimpanzees outside of Africa.
In 2006, he was awarded an honorary MBE by Queen Elizabeth II for services to animal welfare. The series Monkey Business (made by Meridian Broadcasting and shown on ITV Meridian in the UK and on Animal Planet worldwide) has documented the Cronins' frequent rescue missions and undercover investigations throughout Europe and Asia for the past 10 years. Animal Planet will be airing new programs in the USA in the fall.
Cronin died at the Cabrini Medical Center, Manhattan, New York on 17 March 2007, following a brief battle with liver cancer.
[edit] Notes
- ^ "Jim Cronin", The Times, March 22, 2007.
