Attractions A-Z

It's hard to believe, but in the middle of Stoke-on-Trent there are 60 acres of beautiful woodland where 140 monkeys live in total freedom.

Trentham's Monkey Forest is a dedicated conservation project. It's the first monkey park of its kind in the country and one of a very few in the world.

In a special 'Monkey Business' series for BBC Midlands Today, Satnam Rana has visited the park to find out about the conservation project and the owners efforts to raise our awareness of Barbary Macaques...

Keeping it in the family

The attraction opened in July 2005 at Trentham Gardens. The Barbary Macaques were flown in from parks in Germany and France and they wander free in the woodlands, where they can interact with human beings - if they want to!

It's all thanks to a French couple who aim to raise our awareness and safeguard the future of Barbary Macaques.

Sophie and Guillaume de Turckheim are in charge of the team who are looking after the monkeys. Guillaume's father created the very first park in France in 1969.

Barbary Macaques are a vulnerable species. Native to  Morrocco and Algeria, in the last thirty years their population has halved from 23,000 to 10,000. Their habitats have been destroyed by logging and over grazing by animals.

They are also quite unique among primates in that the male of the species is very involved with the rearing of the babies.

But these monkeys are not just for viewing. This is a conservation project and to date (2007), 600 monkeys have been released into the wild from sister parks in Europe.