Overview

Experience an exciting and educational day with your family at Monkey World – Ape Rescue Center in Wareham. Covering an area of 65 acres, the park serves as a safe haven for endangered primates worldwide, including the famous stars of TV shows “Monkey Life” and “Monkey Business”.

Things to do

Visitors can attend daily keepers’ talks that offer an engaging insight into life at the park and its inhabitants. The staff are enthusiastic about their work, creating a feel-good atmosphere.

Guided tours can also be pre-booked, providing an opportunity to learn about the primates’ pasts and how their lives have been transformed since they arrived at Monkey World.

The park is a spacious and well-designed area providing ample space for humans and primates. Visitors can watch the monkeys and apes interact with one another before letting their children play in any of the three adventure playgrounds available. The giant playground, the Great Ape Play Area, is located past the Capuchin complex at the far end of the park.

The Great Ape Play Area is equipped with various climbing frames, cargo nets, swings, and slides, which make it the perfect place for children to let loose and have fun. It’s an ideal location to help your little ones balance like a chimp, climb as high as an orangutan, and swing like a gibbon!

Food & Drink

The park offers visitors five refreshment options: three kiosks and two cafes, open seasonally, during school holidays, or other busy periods. Malagasy, located near the orangutan nursery, is a one-stop shop offering ice cream cones, sandwiches, pasties, sausage rolls, cakes, and crisps. It’s an ideal spot for a quick pit stop before continuing the tour.

The top picnic area by the woolly monkeys and the Great Ape Play Area house serves ice cream and hot and cold drinks. These kiosks are open during busy periods, providing visitors a quick refreshment during their tour.

The scenic 65-acre park can work up quite an appetite for visitors. The park has many picnic areas situated throughout the park where visitors can relax and enjoy their lunch in the stunning Dorset countryside. If visitors forget to pack a picnic, they can head to the Treetops café, which is open all year round and serves hot and cold food and a wide range of drinks. The café is located near the entrance/exit and adjacent to the gift shop, offering visitors shelter from the elements in ample indoor seating or the option to have lunch on the patio while watching Hananya’s chimpanzee group.