You either love or hate zoos. There is no in-between and this post is not about that. This post is about life enrichment.

In the heart of Belgrade there is a zoo ‘Beo Zoo Vrt’, it was founded in 1936 and it is one of the oldest public zoos in the whole of Europe. The zoo has very limited space due to being more or less in the city centre. It is a home to about 1700 animals, almost all of which have been born in captivity.

Over the years, the zoo has made a huge effort to improve the quality of life for its residents. One by one, their old, small concrete and bar type enclosures are being transformed into bigger, greener and more natural environment like spaces. It is a slow and expensive process but it is happening and that is very important from animal welfare point of view.

For example, for years and years these lemurs have lived in a very basic concrete and bar enclosure due to lack of funding. Their carers always ensured they were cleaned, fed and loved but at the end of the day, they only worked there and were not involved in decision making as to who gets the next new shiny enclosure.

Earlier this year, it finally happened for them! It was their turn to get a new home. OK, it is not the wild but that is not an option here so this is a new found luxury for them. Their carers are thrilled that their ‘fur kids’ now have a much more suitable environment to live in.

The zoo also has a 30+ year old Orangutan who came from Germany decades ago and 7 captive born chimpanzees. Sadly, they are yet to get a new enclosure and until that happenes we would love to make their current world a better place.

This small zoo really are doing the best they can to provide for their animals, the staff love them and they’re all in a clean, safe environment, they are well fed and have access to the best veterinary care Serbia has to offer. Sadly they don’t have the funds to go the extra mile. We would like to go the extra mile with your help and enrich the life of 7 primates.

We have been in contact with a lady who helps save and rehabilitate chimpanzees back into the wild. Often they’re just babies are sold as pets once their mothers have been murdered for their meat. She has given us some ideas and tips how we can make the primates at the Belgrade zoo have a better time and we’re hoping that you will help us.

As you know, primates are super intelligent and inquisitive. They love puzzles and having things to do. They are good at problem solving. They’re also ridiculously strong and destructive in comparison to us. We would LOVE to be able to provide them with tough toys and puzzles they can explore and play with.

If you have dogs who love their KONG or similar type toys then you know how important that toy is to them and how happy it makes them. How excited they get when you’re getting their toy stuffed with goodies and how much they look forward they look to receiving it. We want the same for these primates who although are very much loved would hugely benefit from having their lives enriched by stimulating and brain engaging toys.

Can we get some money together and buy these ‘babies’ some goodies? Alternatively you could buy a toy or two from list at the end of the post and have it delivered to SFP, 26 Priory Road, Croydon, CR0 3QY and we will make sure it reaches the zoo.

We have attached photos of toys used in various different zoos across the world as well as rehabilitation centres they vary in prices between £5 up to £500 but we thought we’d start with simpler stuff and see how the primate boys and girls take to it! We are pretty confident that they’ll be intrigued, amused and happy with their new goodies. Some of these will be trashed on day one, we expect that others should last longer but we really hope that they will make a huge difference to their day to day life.

Please note this appeal is a one off one and is a personal one rather than the charity’s. As a charity, our focus is on cats, dogs and horses but we are all animal lovers and our love doesn’t stop there so we wanted to share this with you and hope that you will help us make life better for these zoo animals because we know that you are all animal lovers too.

After a discussion, the trustees decided that we will run this appeal on the page but that money donated will not be mixed in with our usual donations so please do not use the charity’s PayPal address or bank account. Instead please click here to donate: