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[Carrie McLaren <carrie AT stayfreemagazine.org>]

Coventry Evening Telegraph, November 7, 2000

 Copyright 2000 Coventry Newspapers Limited Coventry Evening Telegraph

 November 7, 2000, Tuesday

 HEADLINE: CHIMP THRILLS

 BYLINE: Catherine Turner

 Molly Badham and Natalie Evans started off as rival petshop owners - now
they run one of the world's most respected zoos in Twycross, near Nuneaton.
Their amazing story is told in the book, Molly's Zoo, which is published
today. Molly's chimps famously appeared in the Brooke Bond tea TV adverts
for 20 years. Feature writer CATHERINE TURNER spent an afternoon at Molly's
Zoo. CONSERVATIONISTS Molly Badham and Natalie Evans bought Twycross Zoo
for just pounds 12,000 in 1963.

 They borrowed money from the bank - and cleared the overdraft in two years.

 The two women decided to move from their bungalow in Hints, Staffordshire,
because they needed bigger premises to house their growing collection of
wild animals.

 The property consisted of 20 acres of farm land and a "hideously
decorated" red-brick Victorian manor house. "The stairs and hall walls were
painted egg yellow and pea green!" laughs Molly.

 Wooden farm buildings and stables were converted into animal enclosures.
Over the years adjoining fields and cottages for keepers were bought.

 "In the early days we had so many firsts," says Molly. "In 1969 we had
Britain's first Colobus monkey born in captivity."

 Twycross Zoo is now the fifth largest zoo in the country and has a captive
breeding programme. This year a record 500,000 people came to visit the 80
-acre site.

 There are gorillas, sea-lions, elephants, giraffes, reptiles, birds,
penguins, bonobos and monkeys, overseen by 42 devoted keepers.

 But of all the animals the chimpanzees have a special place in Molly's heart.

 Molly saw her first monkey, Sambo, in the window of Natalie's shop in
1949. "From that moment a lifetime love-affair with monkeys and primates
began," says Molly.

 Unfortunately Sambo, a Woolly monkey, was sickly and died shortly afterwards.

 But it led to Molly and Natalie buying their first chimp, Sue.

 Molly said: "Chimps are so responsive. They are so clever, they are
devious. They are the animals I have the most empathy with.

 "You can talk to them as if they were a person and they know exactly what
you mean. They become very attached to you

 "Our first, Sue, was brilliantly clever but unsafe with people, the second
Mickey was the reverse - he loved everyone but was not very bright."

 Molly and Natalie shared a flat with the two chimps until one day they
came home from lunch to find the cheeky pair throwing all their belonging
out of the window and a huge crowd gathered outside.

 "I can still see my pink silk knickers hanging from a telegraph wire now!"
laughs Molly.

 In the beginning they were seen as two "eccentric and gullible" women soft
enough to buy sick and unwanted monkeys and chimps

 Molly said: "We had six or seven chimps when we first came here. Apart
from two they were all rescue jobs. In those days it was easy to get wild
animals from anywhere, there were no controls."

 But over the years their reputation grew. Gerald Durrell the naturalist,
author of My Family and Other Animals, and founder of Jersey Zoo, entrusted
them to look after his only chimp Chumleigh for a year

 "Chumleigh was totally spoiled," said Molly. "He arrived with a hamper
full of kids' clothes from Harrods. He was such a naughty chimp and would
not stop screaming."

 Molly and Natalie were also very good friends with the late TV presenter
Johnny Morris - star of Animal Magic.

 "Johnny was due here on the day he died. His death was a great loss to the
zoo world. We went to his funeral," she added.

 Molly's chimps were chosen to appear in the Brooke Bond TV adverts for 20
years. "Our chimps were superstars. We used to go to tea-parties in
supermarkets and police had to control crowds of screaming people. The
chimps we used were very nice and kind, most were born in the zoo."

 Two of her favourites were Rosie and Sam.

 "Rosie was undoubtedly one of the most intelligent and good-natured chimps
we ever had," Molly says in the book.

 She also starred in a Hammer Horror film with Peter Cushing and In the Dog
House with Hattie Jaques and Leslie Phillips. Sadly Rosie died young at 15
years of heart trouble.

 Sam was a "delightful little chimp" who was short and thick set. Molly
said: "We used to say to him 'Sam Small. Not very tall, at all'. And he
would smile mischievously at us and raise his eyebrows. He never forgot
that jingle and the same expression would come over his face when we
recited it years after."

 The revenue earned by the chimps was "invaluable" and helped to subsidise
the animals and new buildings.

 Red-haired Molly is a tiny, well-spoken, energetic and sprightly lady, who
does not like to reveal her age.

 Driving me around the zoo in her white hatchback Molly accidentally
scrapes the side of the car onto an animal enclosures. "Oh not again," she
sighs.

 Hurriedly she changes gear and instead of driving on the concrete path she
heads off-road through a gap in-between two trees over the grass. She is
the boss after all.

 In each enclosure we visit she talks in an animated fashion to all the
animals "hello", "Ooh go on - show us your teeth", "Good boy" and "What y'a
doin?". She is the Midlands very own Dr Dolittle.

 I was interested to hear about her childhood. Molly was born in Evesham.
The names of her parents have slipped her mind. "They have been dead a long
time," she says.

 Her father was a nature cure practitioner. "He had the gift of healing. He
built up an enormous practice and even went out to work in South Africa."

 Her mother was a housewife. Molly also has a younger brother, Donald.

 Molly loved animals from an early age. "I always was allowed to have pets
- I had two dogs," she said.

 Molly lives in the red-brick Victorian house, now tastefully decorated,
with Natalie and a French bull dog Bugsy.

 This is the first year they are not raising chimps in the house.

 "We have put a stop to breeding chimps. We have 32. Most of the females
are on the pill," she said.

 Her love of primates is clearly evident in the living room. Over the
fireplace is a specially commissioned painting of the zoo's first baby
gorilla, Ozala, and on the wall opposite, Joe, the zoo's oldest gorilla,
now 36.

 All along the mantelpieces sit monkey statuettes, a goldplated plaque
which reads 'A wise monkey is a monkey who doesn't monkey with another
monkey's monkey' and an achievement award from the Zoological Federation of
GB and Ireland.

 Molly says: "It's been a great life but I didn't think you could earn a
living. It's a very expensive place to run.

 "I love the companionship of the animals - they always acknowledge you.

 "We are so lucky we have been able to make a success of it - it makes it
worthwhile

 "It's appalling that so many animals are now endangered. I think it's
jolly good that zoos have been successful in breeding worldwide."

 Molly's Zoo, published by Simon and Schuster, costs pounds 15.99.

 GRAPHIC: GIVE US A KISS: Tom the chimp gives Molly a smacker on the lips
at her home at Twycross Zoo STORY TIME: Molly shares a quiet moment with
Tom the chimp Picture: Richard Nelmes Molly's monkey business: BEGINNINGS:
The; Hints Zoological Gardens where Molly Badham began what was to become;
Twycross Zoo SURVIVAL: A family of Javan langurs, an endangered species,
which is part of a captive breeding programme at Twycross Zoo BRUSH;
STROKES: Rosie the chimp plays at being an artist SPECIAL OCCASION: Johnny;
Morris and Joli the chimp help celebrate Twycross Zoo's 30th anniversary
in; 1993 HOME COMFORTS: Joe the gorilla enjoys his toys in Molly's home
before he is big enough to be transferred to his own enclosure