AmaZOOnica

This posting shows several pictures of a wildlife refuge located in the jungle some hour and forty five minutes out of Tena. The place is called AmaZOOnica. It is run by a Swiss foundation. Access to this refuge is by motorized canoe. We took a chance of just stopping on the road a hundred yards from the landing. A boat happened to come by and give us a ride to the refuge. (We were lucky several times that day.)

The refuge has about 300 birds and animals with some 60 being monkeys. Most of the animals have had a troubled past. Some were cute pets that the owners wanted to get rid of when they got older and hard to handle. Others were confiscated from bird and animal smugglers. Some were shot and injured or the babies were rescued after the mother was shot.

Managing a situations where animals and birds come in and some are set free is a complicated job. Birds and animals may or may not accept the new comer. Releasing animals has to be done at some distance away. Sometimes the cage is left in the new location and after some time the doors are open. Some animals raised as pets can never be released because they never acquired hunting skills.

The people who work at AmaZOOnica are mostly young volunteers from Europe with a few from Canada and the US. They live at the refuge from two to six months at a cost to the volunteer of $100 a month for food and lodging. The Quechua Indians who live in the area are being taught to manage the refuge in the future. The families live on site. There is an elementary school to educate the children. Because of anticipated long term relations with the Swiss foundation, the school also teaches Germans to the students. So, the Quechua student know their own language, Spanish, German and some English. We happened to meet one of the volunteer teachers at our hotel in Tena the day before. She invited us to visit the school. The picture below shows two Swiss kids with Quechua children in the background.