Kids Saving The
Rainforest
Aug us t , 2 00 9
V ol ume 2
KSTR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
Creating the best possible Animal Rehabilitation Center
and Sanctuary for the Wildlife of Costa Rica
By Janine Licare
Co-founder and Spokesperson
Kids Saving The Rainforest
KSTR has visited several different centers around the country trying
to learn as much as possible from them. Just last month, four of us
core volunteers headed 5 hours south of Manuel Antonio, to the Osa
Peninsula, to visit one of the most incredible animal rehabilitation
centers we have seen. The Osa Wildlife Refuge, Carol and Earl’s
place, is located in the middle of the rainforest, right on the coast and
only accessible by boat. They’ve been rescuing animals for many
years now, and have no intention of slowing down. Bordering a
national park, they are able to release their animals right at the
sanctuary, and allow them to comfortably reintegrate themselves into
the wild at their own speed. We plan to implement this method at our
animal sanctuary, which is currently still in the making, as it is, as
well, surrounded by rainforest.
Working tightly with MINAET, we plan to visit Zoo Ave within the
next month to see their sanctuary for animals that will never be able
to be released as an example for our cages and blueprints. Just last
month we had 14 primate students and teachers from Academic Treks
who came from all over the United States and the world to work with
us for a week to help us enrich our primate cages and lend us tips on
how to make the best animal center possible. They helped us plant
trees at our rehab center, studied our primates’ diet, and fixed our
trails and pathways, among other things.
The students accompanied us to the national park to teach tourists our
10 Reasons Not To Feed The Monkeys. They managed to speak to an
estimate of 150 willing tourists in the two hours alone! Our 10
Reasons Not To Feed The Monkeys is still one of our major projects
which, fueled by our tremendous amount of help from volunteers and
cooperative hotels, has successfully assisted in the conservation of the
Mono Titi. In the past several years, the sub-species, endemic to
Manuel Antonio, has grown from an estimated 1200 individuals in
2001 to an outstanding 3000 monkeys. We receive these numbers
from our Monkey Bridge team and Titi Monkey experts, who go out
at least once a week to follow the troops and count the members of
them. We are now installing bridges as far south as Dominical and
the Osa Peninsula, and this is still just the beginning.
www.kidssavingtherainforest.org
[email protected]
What Should You do if You
Find a Wild Animal in Need?
By María Pía Martín, DVM
KSTR Wildlife Vet
Kids Saving The Rainforest has a Wildlife
Rescue Center. It works in coordination
with MINAET to look after the wellbeing
of native wild animals. Thanks to Good
Samaritans we are able to rescue sick, injured
or orphan animals, rehabilitate them and then
release them back to the wild.
In Costa Rica, many people with the best intentions find animals in
need and want to help. The best option is to take the animal to an
experienced veterinarian with permission of MINAET.
The first step is to determine if the animal is really in need. Is this
animal unable to feed, to hide, or to get away? Is it bleeding? Has it
been electrocuted? Has it been run-over by a car? Is it vomiting or
does it have diarrhea?
If you answer yes any of these questions then the animal probably is
in need of help.
Is it an orphan?
It’s important to do a correct identification of the species and then
look for information about their behavior.
For example, some parents leave their baby by itself while they are
looking for food, like deer. In other cases, the lonely animal is just
looking for a mate, like male monkeys leave their troop for some time
until they find a female from another troop (genetic diversity) to
procreate. However, in other species, moms can leave their baby
behind if they feels it is sick (like sloths), so sufficient time should
always be given to allow the mom to come back.
Please call us if you see a baby by itself, we will gladly help you
search for the best option.
What do I do if I find a sick or injured animal?
When you are going to grab it be very careful, remember that they are
wild animals and are extremely frightened of people. They may
either run away (injured) or attack you. You can use a thick towel or
leather gloves to protect yourself. Do not touch them with your bare
hands; animals have diseases that may be transmitted to people. I
recommend using latex gloves always and wash thoroughly with soap
afterwards.
Place it in a box appropriate for its size with a dry and clean
towel and keep it in a dark and calm place. Please call us to assist
you in the next step.
Should I feed it? Should I give it any medication?
Please don’t. You may offer clean fresh water in a dish. Remember
to keep it calm, away from dogs, cats, and other people while you
find professional help.
KSTR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER Page 2, August 2009, Volume 2
The animals we have right now at the
KSTR Rehabilitation Center are:
Titi Monkeys
A baby titi who is now about 6 months old. Although he is still drinking
milk, he is becoming more independent and definitely a wild animal. He is
extremely fast and agile, he loves to climb up and down branches and walk
through the ropes. He loves his toys, especially those that make sounds. He
learned a new trick, he hangs from a ball that is hanging from a rope and
he turns himself around and around. His behavior is also changing, he has
bigger teeth and sometimes he bites and it hurts. We will change him from
“the cage for babies” to “a cage for grownups” soon.
Hi everyone! What you see in the picture above is a monkey
bridge… KSTR has a program dedicated to help the Titi
Monkeys (squirrel monkey) as well as the other species of
monkeys that live in the Manuel Antonio Area.
The leading causes of death for this endangered
species are electrocution by electrical wires while crossing
roads and being hit by cars. That’s why, as part of our plan
to help the Titi monkeys, we have placed monkey bridges
that cross above the roads of Manuel Antonio and
surrounding areas to give these adorable creatures a safer
way to travel in the rainforest, to get food and to be in good
physical condition; yeah that’s right, Titi monkeys need to
travel 17 km a day to be in good shape.
With the help of local experts and the Costa Rican
Institute of Electricity ICE we have put up more than 130
bridges and we keep putting up more as needed. Our
specialized “monkey bridge team”, is in charge of the
maintenance of the bridges, and go out every month to
check their condition and how they’re working.
Lenin Rosales, a local conservationist, has
estimated the that the monkey population has increased
from 1200 titi monkeys left in the area in 2001 to 3000 in
2009. He attributes this in large part to the bridges!
By Adriana Quesada
KSTR Manager
A juvenile titi monkey who was found with very injured legs and spine
severely damaged. He is recuperating from a surgery where both of his
legs needed to be amputated. However, his attitude is awesome and he is
fighting for his life. He is doing great moving through his cage with only
his hands. He will not be able to be released since he probably wouldn’t be
able to survive on his own.
Sloths
A one month old baby two toed sloth is also growing up with us. He still
drinks lots of milk, but loves amapalos, watermelon, apple and sweet
pepper. He is too young to be on his own so we keep him always with a
“stepmom” (stuffed animal) and he is learning to climb horizontal and
vertical branches! Its instinct!
A young two toed sloth arrived last week. He fell from his mom and now
we are raising him. He is a bit older than Altito therefore eats more leaves
and flowers and doesn’t drink milk anymore.
A juvenile two toed sloth arrived a few days ago, he is the third two toed
sloth. He is also a baby but probably old enough for his mom to leave him
on his own. Something unusual must have happened and people at the
National Park saw him on the back of a three toed male sloth! We have
never seen behavior like that. But the next day, the park rangers found him
on the ground being harassed by white face monkeys. The good news is
that now he is recuperating, gaining weight and rehydrated. We will sloth
walk him and test his abilities whenever he feels stronger.
Raccoons
A female 2 month old raccoon we are raising who will be released.
Check out these interesting links:
http://kids.mongabay.com/elementary/001.html
http://pages.interlog.com/~rainfrst/wildlife.html
http://www.mycraftbook.com/List.asp?subcategoryID=44
Special Thanks
To all those involved in the powerful rainforest saving
projects we’ve been working on and to all of those who are
working together on our new projects we sincerely thank you.
If you have any eco-ideas or information that you
want to share with us for further editions, please send them:
E-mail to: [email protected]
Our Truth Ambassador, a male raccoon. He was hit by a car a year ago and
his legs got deformed. He can’t be released.
White face monkeys
A baby capuchin who was probably an escaped pet. The department of the
environment found him on a roof and he was very tame. We are looking
for another rescue center that may be forming a troop of white faced and
incorporate him in it.
Birds.
Orange napped parakeet- came in with broken carpus in his right wing. His
bones are now healed and we moved him to a big flying cage so that he
can exercise.
Mot mot- he is a lot better, it is in its final stage of treatment. His fracture
has healed; he is doing lots of exercise and moving fast, in a better physical
condition. We are waiting for his feathers to grow again.