British animal sanctuary hires Marvin Gaye impersonator to encourage some monkey mating

Past news has taught us that some endangered species can be brought back to a healthy population level by the efforts of at least one or two particularly horny individuals. But some, like super uncool frogs and Barbary macaques, need a bit of encouragement to get down to the work of saving their kind from total extinction.

To help out the latter group of animals, Stafford, England’s Trentham Monkey Forest sanctuary has realized that no creature, regardless of its low libido, can resist feeling something stir deep within them when encountering the Motown Sound. And so, quite naturally, it’s hired a Marvin Gaye impersonator to serenade its Barbary macaques until they get into some species-saving monkey business.

Gaye impersonator Dave Largie stopped by Trentham Monkey Forest last weekend to, as the sanctuary’s website puts it, “help boost the monkey love this mating season.” A video of this guest appearance shows Largie in a white suit doing his best to get the primates all horned up by singing, of course, “Let’s Get It On” while a few members of the audience climb a fence in the distance. (There are also a handful of excellent photos available that capture the concert in higher quality.)

Largie, described as “a highly experienced love song guru,” performed “several Marvin Gaye classics to the monkeys whilst in amongst them and they seemed very relaxed and full of love!” Evidence of this is given in the form of macaque behavior “such as grooming and teeth chattering,” which is apparently encouraging enough that the sanctuary hopes “the park will have a record number of babies come the summer!”

The sanctuary’s Park Director, Matt Lovatt, said “we thought [the performance] could be a creative way to encourage our females to show a little affection to males that might not have been so lucky in love.” He goes on to describe the importance of every new birth for the endangered Barbary macaques and signs off by stating that he hopes “Marvin’s done his magic and we can welcome some new babies.”

We hope so, too, Trentham Monkey Forest. And if this doesn’t work, maybe throw in a Barry White impersonator next year as well and inadvertently craft a line-up that makes the sanctuary into Stafford’s premier destination for both live monkey sex shows and romantic music performances.

[via Boing Boing]

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