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groups. Sometimes they do not understand other chimpanzees' behaviour, or make sense of the social hierarchy. Frequent fights, and occasionally even serious injuries (especially to the newcomer) can result from these 'misunderstandings'. Individual solutions are needed to help them join a group, and not be kept in isolation. My impression was that MW staff showed great devotion in finding ways of meeting the individual needs of each chimpanzee.

On arrival at MW, the chimpanzees were mostly in poor condition. Once they were no longer babies, they became strong and aggressive, so the beach photographers pulled out their teeth, beat them and gave them tranquilliser drugs. Most arrived malnourished and drug-addicted. They came from Spanish beaches, a French laboratory, a Greek circus, and the illegal pet trade in Israel and Austria. One orang-utan, Amy, was privately owned by a wealthy individual, who gave her to Jeremy when she was an infant. The male orang, Banghi, came from Chester Zoo as a mate for Amy, who is currently pregnant.

The chimpanzees now seem to display a surprisingly wide variety of 'natural' chimpanzee behaviour. They appear inquisitive and relaxed. They are never alone if they don't want to be. They play together, sleep together, groom each other, and of course argue. It is difficult to say after a brief visit what stresses are caused by the presence of visitors. But at first sight neither the chimpanzees nor the orang-utans seem to be disturbed by them. Jim Cronin says the visitors are there for the apes' entertainment, and they get bored in winter when there are fewer visitors.

Each group has a large, indoor play area like a gymnasium, plus back bedrooms available at all times; day and night, summer and winter. The bedrooms have separate niches for the chimpanzees to build sleeping nests. This is completely hidden from the public. The rest of the indoor area is shared by the whole group. The chimpanzees can choose to sleep alone in their niche, or with the others in the communal room. They mostly prefer to be together at night, building sleeping nests out of the wood shavings.

Indoors, visitors and chimpanzees are able to look at each other through big windows. The chimpanzees can choose whether to be inside or out. The dividing gates are left open. The indoor temperature is kept at 20°C, winter and summer.

Each group has its own outdoor enclosure of approximately two acres, the largest being 2.5 acres. There are climbing frames, ropes, slides and a watchtower. One or two sides of each enclosure are open to the public. The grassy, hilly terrain allows the chimpanzees to withdraw if they want to. As they are confined to a relatively small area, the chimpanzees destroyed the trees that were in one of the enclosures. The others never had any. This makes the outside areas seem a bit too exposed, and too easily observable by visitors. The enclosures are surrounded by low-amplitude electrified fences, which Jim says are effective but not dangerous. Moats would be far more expensive and hazardous. Chimps, who cannot swim, might drown if chased into the water.

Baby chimps who arrive at MW spend their first years in the Nursery, where they are cared for by Sally. She is currently fostering eight babies, who will each be introduced into one of the adult groups later. The Nursery has indoor and outdoor spaces, with a watchtower, the only place the babies are out of the public eye.

MW is building a tunnel connecting all the chimpanzee enclosures. This is a major experiment, and it is unclear whether it will work or how the groups will get along. But it will give them another choice, and thus more variety.

The two orang-utans have about half an acre outdoors, plus an indoor enclosure that is not open to the public. Although they have high climbing frames, it is especially sad to see these arboreal apes living without trees. Space is available in the bordering forested area, but Jim says the trees would quickly be destroyed if they were allowed access to them.

I found the visitors, especially the children, surprisingly well-behaved. There was no screaming or making of faces. They seemed to regard the inhabitants with a degree of respect. This may be because large displays outside the enclosures describe each of the residents as unique individuals. Here, we can read their mostly sad histories, alongside their pictures. Visitors who give food to the inhabitants are asked to leave.

The Cronins see no sense in allowing offspring when there are still chimpanzees to be rescued, so they give the chimpanzees birth control implants. They do not want to turn away any chimpanzee (unless he/she carries a contagious disease), and so far MW has taken everyone it has been asked to take.

There is no general policy on breeding. This is decided case by case. The Cronins are allowing the orang-utans to have offspring. They believe it will be good for Amy and Banghi's welfare to interact with a younger orang; especially if MW is to rescue others. Also, there will be space in the planned new house and enclosure for a young one. In this case, they think that the advantages of allowing offspring outweigh the disadvantages. No further orangs are due to arrive in the very near future, although they have agreed to take 30 from Taiwan, if the government permits. They also say that even if these 30 arrive, one additional infant would make no real difference to the space available. But, from then on, offspring would no longer be allowed.

The Cronins' pessimistic view is that most great-ape natural habitats will disappear in the near future, so that places like MW will be their only homes. They expect the remnants of their current habitats to be turned into wildlife reserves that are managed like zoos. Jim Cronin distinguishes between 'zoos' and 'menageries'. He thinks zoos may soon be safer for great apes than their home forests, and, for him, it is better to keep some members of a species in captivity than to let it go extinct.