It’s December once again and Christmas is drawing near. We’ve compiled a list of gift ideas to show your loved ones how much you care about them and about our closest relatives by buying gifts that contribute to great ape conservation efforts. Each of the companies below give back a portion of their profit to conservation projects and to support students who are studying to become the next generation of primatologists! 

Adopt a chimp with Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue and Protection

If you’re looking for a gift that will warm the hearts of any nature lovers, then consider ‘adopting’ an ape from one of our ape allies. There are plenty of organisations offering adoption schemes and we have listed three below. If you adopt an orphaned chimpanzee from Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue and Protection, your one off $50 contribution will go directly to the sanctuary and will help to feed, house and care for a victim of the illegal bushmeat and pet trade. You will get a high-quality image of your chosen chimp emailed to you along with an adoption certificate to present to the recipient of the gift. To explore this gift idea, go to (ADOPT A CHIMP - LIBERIA CHIMPANZEE RESCUE & PROTECTION). 

The Born Free Foundation (Adopt a Gorilla | Adoption Pack & Soft Toy Included (bornfree.org.uk)) offers an adopt a gorilla scheme where for a regular donation or a one off payment, you will receive a cute soft gorilla toy, an adoption pack and a copy of the bi-annual Born Free Wild Life magazine. 

If you are looking for a gift for an orangutan fanatic, Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) (Adopt (orangutan.or.id)) have an adoption scheme where the recipient will receive quarterly updates about your chosen individual and their progress in BOS ‘Forest School’. 

Conservation you can wear

The Alpine Coffee Shop is a café in the beautiful North Wales town of Betws Y Coed. They describe themselves as a ‘café with a conscience’ serving palm oil free food and working hard to raise funds for a range of ape conservation charities. The walls are decorated with beautiful photographs of primates around the world taken by café owner and artist, Jacha Potgeiter (Jacha Potgieter – Artist, Environmental Conservationist). The café sells a range of items, but we particularly love these conservation t-shirts, a percentage of the sales goes towards ape conservation charities. Check them out here (T-Shirts – Alpine Coffee Shop) 

If it’s something gibbon related you’re looking for then profits from the sale of these Skywalker Hoolock Gibbon clothing items goes into researching the recently discovered species. Teemill products are vegan and ethically sourced and with a name like ‘Skywalker’, how could any Star Wars fan resist? (Gibbon Warrior (teemill.com)). 

Ape Artwork

Looking for something for an ape art appreciator? Andy Gilpin is an incredible self-taught artist from England. Inspired by his passion for great apes, Andy paints beautifully realistic portraits of apes and you can buy his prints here (About — Artist 4 Apes). The best bit is that 30% of the profits from each sale is split between Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue and Protection, Borneo Orangutan Survival UK, and the Gorilla Doctors. 

Something Extra Special 

If you’re looking for something extra special, this diamond pendant, exclusively designed by actress Kate Mara, comes in your choice of 14k yellow gold, rose gold, white gold, and silver. 50% of the profits from this beautiful piece of jewellery goes directly to Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue and Protection to support their work with orphaned chimpanzees. 

Supporting Students of Animal Behaviour

The Animal Behaviour Collective are a group of students and academics, all involved with conservation and animal behaviour research who have teamed up to raise money for students of animal behaviour who have encountered financial hurdles. Here (ABCmicrogrants Shop | Redbubble) on their Redbubble store you can buy a huge variety of different art work on items of your choice. The perfect personalised and unusual gift for animal lovers! All profits from the shop go directly into the microgrant fund where every penny supports a student who is dedicating their life to protecting and studying animals. 

A Perfect Christmas Book

Remembering Great Apes is the third book in the highly acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of charity books. It was edited by Ape Alliance chairman Ian Redmond OBE, and the foreword is by Dr Jane Goodall DBE. The project was crowd funded, with the world’s top photographers donating their images so 100% of the profits can go towards ape conservation. The book retails at £45,  and can be shipped worldwide from the Remembering Wildlife Website (Remembering Great Apes - STANDARD EDITION (buyrememberingwildlife.com)

If you decide to buy off Amazon this year, please be sure to purchase through Amazon Smile. Hundreds of conservation charities have signed up to this scheme, and Amazon will give a donation with each purchase to the charity of your choice at no extra cost to you. And if you buy anything from this list, or have any other gift ideas to share then tag us and use the hashtag #Shop4Apes to help others who are trying to buy ethically. Finally, we want to wish you a happy holiday season and a fantastic new year, from all of us at Ape Alliance.