The Monkey Sanctuary was founded in 1964 by Len Williams, father of classical guitarist John Williams, as a cooperative to care for rescued woolly monkeys. Based in Looe, Cornwall, England, it is home to woolly monkeys descended from the original residents, a growing number of capuchin monkeys rescued from the British pet trade and a small group of rescued Barbary macaques.

A colony of rare lesser horseshoe bats live in the cellar of Murrayton House, a 19th-century building that is the visitors' centre and accommodation for staff and volunteers. They can be watched from "the bat cave", a room showing CCTV footage from an infrared camera installed in the cellar.

The Monkey Sanctuary is the flagship project of Wild Futures (UK registered Charity number 1102532).