A primate welfare and conservation charity is set to put its sanctuary site on the market as part of a strategic move to ensure its long-term future, the charity has said.
Wild Futures said it was seeking a “sympathetic buyer” who would collaborate on a future that allows the charity to continue operating from its site near Looe in Cornwall or “relocate under sustainable conditions”.
The charity cares for 31 rescued monkeys and campaigns to end the primate pet trade.
The sale will go live next week and follows a period of financial difficulty during which the charity said it has reduced staff numbers and paused public visits.
In March, the charity announced redundancies and said it was closing its sanctuary for a year due to rising costs.
Wild Futures has restructured and gone from a team of 14 employees to 9 as a result.
“At the moment we don’t know what the relationship will be with the buyer, as we don’t know what options will come forward,” a charity spokesperson said.
“We are hopeful to find a buyer that wants to keep us on as tenants.”
The charity said it hoped the eventual buyer would be open to letting it stay there for a peppercorn rent.
“If that is not an option for us, we hope to be able to invest in a new site and will be willing to relocate to wherever is suitable for us to do that,” the spokesperson said.
Sarah Hanson, director of Wild Futures, said the charity was seeking a buyer who shared its values and could work with it to ensure its sanctuary continued to serve as a safe haven for rescued monkeys.
“We are doing everything we can to preserve the legacy of this sanctuary and continue our vital work – the mission of Wild Futures remains at the heart of everything we do,” she said.