This Sunday, Zoo de Barcelona is celebrating International Primate Day. Over the course of the morning, the Zoo will be hosting a series of activities that will give visitors the opportunity to get to know the different species and to raise their awareness of the challenges faced in conserving and protecting these animals and their habitats. 

During the day, there will be a number of educational activities and talks in which the keepers and carers will present some of the species kept at the Zoo, such as chimpanzees, gorillas, grey-cheeked mangabeys and drills, and they will explain some of their particular features. 

Collaborating and participating in the day are entities such as the Borneo Nature Foundation (BNF), which works to protect and conserve the forests and biodiversity of this south-east Asian island; West African Primate Conservation Action (WAPCA), dedicated to the conservation of endangered primates and their habitats in Ghana and Ivory Coast; and SOS Primates, whose mission is to raise awareness of the status of primates in nature and to actively participate in initiatives for their conservation and protection. 

The three organisations will participate in the day with information stands and outreach activities. 

Projects for the conservation and protection of primates

This day event organised by Zoo de Barcelona aims to raise public awareness of the problems faced in the conservation of primates and their habitats and the role played by Zoos, associations and NGOs in the conservation of these species.  

As well as caring for the primates currently kept there, Zoo de Barcelona also actively participates in different projects aimed at protecting these animals in their countries of origin. In Borneo, the Zoo collaborates with the BNF (Borneo Nature Foundation) in forest conservation projects on this island and in monitoring orangutans and endangered animals. With the WAPCA it carries out projects in Ghana to support the conservation of the white-naped mangabey, while in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Zoo and SOS Primates support the country’s primate rescue and rehabilitation centres.