Fundació Mona

Fundació Mona (also known as Fundación Mona) is a non-profit organisation based in Riudellots de la Selva, in the province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded in 2000 by veterinarian Olga Feliu together with Amparo Barba and Manel Maraña, it operates a primate recovery centre that rescues, rehabilitates and provides lifelong care for chimpanzees and Barbary macaques that have been confiscated from illegal trafficking, circuses, television, advertising, or kept as exotic pets. The centre began operations in 2001 with the arrival of five chimpanzees seized from a circus trainer in Valencia. Since then, it has become a reference point in Spain for the rescue and rehabilitation of primates, offering them a dignified life in social groups within a naturalistic environment. The foundation's mission is threefold: rescue and rehabilitation, education, and research. Its facilities, covering 5,700 m², include indoor and outdoor enclosures designed to promote natural behaviours and social living. The team comprises professionals in biology, psychology, veterinary medicine, and primatology, along with research fellows and volunteers. Fundació Mona also runs educational programmes, guided visits for schools and small groups, and academic training in primatology, including a master's degree in collaboration with the University of Girona. Its research unit conducts ethological studies to monitor and improve animal welfare and to gain insights into primate behaviour, publishing in journals such as the International Journal of Primatology, Journal of Veterinary Behavior, and Scientific Reports. Due to its location being classified as a flood zone under the 2001 Water Law, the foundation is currently building a new centre in the Pla de l'Estany region, where it plans to relocate. Fundació Mona relies on donations, grants, and partnerships to sustain its work and continues to advocate for the end of primate exploitation in entertainment and as pets.

Fundació Mona was founded in 2000 by veterinarian Olga Feliu, together with Amparo Barba and Manel Maraña. The origins of the project trace back to 1995, when Feliu was working with a group of veterinarians in the Selva region of Catalonia. There she met Simon and Peggy Templer, an elderly couple who were pioneers in Spain in rescuing chimpanzees that had been smuggled into the country and used as tourist attractions on the Spanish coasts. The Templers temporarily housed these chimpanzees in facilities they had built at their home, Can Miloca. Feliu began collaborating with them on rescues and on the complex paperwork required to transfer the chimpanzees to specialised centres. This experience revealed an urgent need for a professional centre equipped to rescue, house and rehabilitate these primates. When the Templers could no longer continue, Feliu decided to turn that need into a formal project. In 2000, Fundació Mona was born. A year later, the Customs Department of the Ministry of Economy recognised its Primate Recovery Centre as a suitable facility to receive animals from illegal trafficking. That same year, the first major rescue arrived: a group of chimpanzees confiscated from a former circus animal trainer. They had spent more than eight years living in a broken-down truck in deplorable hygiene and care conditions. This marked the beginning of a long-term project to address a previously neglected reality in Spain. The centre is located in Riudellots de la Selva, in the province of Girona, on a site of 5,700 m². It began operations in 2001 with the arrival of five chimpanzees seized from a circus trainer in Valencia. Since its inception, it has housed individuals of the common chimpanzee and Barbary macaque species. The primates that arrive at the foundation have generally been confiscated and have a past of exploitation in shows (circuses, film, advertising, tourist attractions) or used as pets. They often present physical and mental health problems that the centre's staff try to heal. The team is made up of experts in biology, psychology and veterinary medicine, as well as research fellows and volunteers. In the field of research, the foundation created a Research Unit with a multidisciplinary team of psychologists, biologists, veterinarians and anthropologists. Mona is committed to ethological research and academic training. Ethological research serves as a way to monitor and improve the welfare of these rescued animals, as well as a tool to shed light on questions about the behaviour of our ancestors. Academic training offers higher education in primatology and related sciences, including specialisation courses and a master's degree with the University of Girona. The foundation also collaborates with the Catalan Institute of Human Palaeoecology and Social Evolution on research projects and publishes results in academic journals such as the International Journal of Primatology, Journal of Veterinary Behavior and Scientific Reports. For example, the Chiari Malformation, a rare disease that also affects humans, was identified for the first time in the chimpanzee Nico at Mona. Currently, the entity is building a new centre in the Pla de l'Estany region, where it plans to relocate, because the modification of the Water Law in 2001 classified the Riudellots de la Selva facilities as a flood zone. Among its outreach tasks, Fundació Mona offers courses and workshops on planetary sustainability, animal welfare and respect for animals and biodiversity. It also offers guided visits for schools and individuals in small groups, by appointment and for short periods, to cause the least noise and disturbance to the centre's inhabitants.

• 2001

  The Primate Recovery Centre is recognised by the Customs Department; first major rescue of five chimpanzees from a circus trainer.

• 2001

  The centre begins operations in Riudellots de la Selva.

• 2000

  Fundació Mona is founded by Olga Feliu, Amparo Barba and Manel Maraña.

• 1995

  Olga Feliu meets Simon and Peggy Templer and begins collaborating on chimpanzee rescues in the Selva region.

• Research Unit is created, focusing on ethological research and academic training.

• First identification of Chiari Malformation in the chimpanzee Nico.

• Construction begins on a new centre in Pla de l'Estany due to flood zone classification.

Non-profit primate rescue and rehabilitation centre focused on animal welfare, conservation, education and research.

1. 1Home - Fundació Monafundaciomona.org
2. 2La Fundació - Fundació Monafundaciomona.org
3. 3Fundació Mona - Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4Fundación Mona - Wikipediaes.wikipedia.org