Providing veterinary care and nutrition for rescued animals is very complicated and expensive. By adopting an animal today, you can help cover the costs of an animal’s food and care for an entire year.
What do you get in return?
When you adopt an animal you get the peace of mind knowing that you are contributing to the wellbeing of your chosen animal. You will receive a personalized PDF certificate with a photo of your adopted animal, and you will also be mentioned by name on our website’s Adoption page.
If you are interested then please contact us today via email!
Animals for adoption
at Esperanza Verde
GAIA
Species: Ocelot (Leopardus paradalis)
Sex: Female
Arrival EV: 05-08-2021
Est. Birthdate: 24-06-2021
Gaia, only a few weeks old, was wandering around on her own in the jungle, lost without her mother. She was taken by a man and brought to the local authorities after which she was taken to Esperanza Verde. So young and without her natural mother to teach the tricks of hunting for wild prey, has made her survival in the wild not viable any more. She has found a permanent home at Esperanza Verde and formed a close bond with our other, also female ocelot, Wayra. They live together in a spacious enclosure, thanks to the Susy Utzinger Foundation in Switzerland. Help us care for her by adopting her!
If you want to adopt Gaia, giving 200€ per year or 100€ every half year or 20€ per month, please contact us today via email!
LUCIO
Species: Black spider monkey (Ateles chamek)
Sex: male
Arrival EV: 09/09/2014
Est. Birthdate: January 2004
Lucio was brought to Esperanza Verde after being confiscated from a circus in Pucallpa. He was used during the breaks to make photos with visitors, while sitting on their laps or standing next to them. He had a collar around his neck with a leash, so he could be controlled. To make him less dangerous his canines were broken off. As an adult male that has been in captivity so long, we could not offer him a life outside at Esperanza Verde, as he might seek a mating partner among one of us humans. But he found the company of Rimaq, another adult male, and they now live together with two large headed capuchins, Kres and Apollo, in the large enclosure, ´Rimaq´. Sometimes they are joined by Cumala or Yanay, the adult females living in semi-captivity. Help us taking care for Lucio, keeping his enclosure safe and full of enrichment by adopting him!
If you want to adopt Lucio, giving 250€ per year or 130€ every half year or 25€ per month, please contact us today via email!
PEPITO
Species: Yellow-footed tortoise (Chelonoidis denticulata)
Sex: male
Arrival EV: 21/12/2011
Est. Birthdate: December 1997
Pepito already had a long history as a pet, first in the capital Lima, and then he was taken back towards the jungle, in the nearby town Curimana, where he stayed for about 10 years as a pet in the garden. The owners then heard of Esperanza Verde´s existence and wanted to give Pepito the chance to meet other tortoises. Although not often thought so, also tortoises can really become tame, and thus happened with Pepito, meaning a release for him would be impossible, especially as tortoises are a well-known delicacy for locals.
So here at Esperanza Verde he first found some companion with a tapir, but not much later he found himself surrounded by several tortoises, among which he got to enjoy a lot of, especially female, companionship. When he arrived, he was a skinny tortoise with an ugly growing carapace, but since then bit by bit he has grown into a hansom fellow of about 9 kilo heavy! Help us take care of him and his companions by adopting him!
If you want to adopt Pepito, giving 60€ per year or 35€ every half year 7€ per month, please contact us today via email!
KRES
Species: Large headed capuchin (Sapajus macrochephalus)
Sex: female
Arrival EV: 01-06-2017
Est. Birthdate: March 2015
Kres was a pet for about a year at a local family, before they noticed a monkey like that is not really a great pet to have. As she was opening everything and leaving a mess everywhere, they were not able to handle her. Not strange as capuchins are known to be the smartest Southern American monkeys, and they don’t like to be told off. Kres is a unique case in the fact that because she is so clever, she is able to open most doors throughout Esperanza Verde. She resides in Rimaq enclosure with another capuchin monkey and two adult male spider monkeys. This is a choice Kres has made herself as a little over two years ago she opened Rimaq enclosure letting out the current residents and putting herself in their place. When volunteers are not on their “a” game, Kres will still open the enclosure and let everyone go free, often before letting herself into the comfort of another animal enclosure. Adopt Kres and help with a truly unique creature and her companions in Rimaq enclosure.
If you want to adopt Kres, giving 150€ per year or 80€ every half year or 15€ per month, please contact us today via email!
Already adopted animals
at Esperanza Verde
MAYA
Species: Howler monkey (Alouatta seniculus)
Sex: Female
Arrival EV: 19-11-2024
Est. Birthdate: 10-07-2024
Maya was found in the hands of a young girl traveling from her family’s plantation to town. Lucky for her the family was eager to hand her over after learning about the intensive care a young howler monkey needs. At just four months old, Maya spent her first six weeks receiving luxury care at the family house. Since then, she’s moved to an outside enclosure, where she spends time with the other howlers and enjoys daily excursions with them. With the comfort of a dry place to sleep and twice-daily food deliveries (plus extra forest leaves), Maya will remain in the enclosure until she’s ready for a ‘soft release.’ This means she’ll venture out for short periods, gradually increasing her time in the wild with the ultimate goal of living freely, day and night.
Adopted by Joëlle Moser, since 2025.
NANDO
Species: Spix White Fronted Capuchin (Cebus Unicolor)
Sex: Male
Arrival EV: 05-06-2019
Est. Birthdate: 05-12-2016
Nando was found and confiscated during transport in a wooden crate, along with a spider monkey. Both were treated as pets, raised like human babies. At Esperanza Verde, Nando quickly became part of the growing monkey population and was released into the semi-captive group of monkeys. His confidence grew by the day, but unfortunately, confidence quickly turned into harassment of volunteers, especially when trying to feed the resident animals. From stealing food to physically interacting with volunteers, Nando’s behaviour became intimidating due to the large canine teeth he had developed. After several attempts to reach a mutual understanding, we made the decision to move Nando to an enclosure with the adult male spider monkeys. He’s adjusted well, building relationships with both Rimaq and Lucio. When he’s not asserting his over-inflated dominance, he can be seen playing and causing mischief.
Adopted by Sandra Liaunig, since 2025.
YSAIA
Species: Howler Monkey (Alouatta seniculus)
Sex: Female
Arrival EV: 24-05-2024
Est. Birthdate: 15-12-2022
Ysaia was held as a pet, tied up in a house before being confiscated and brought to Esperanza Verde. Like many howler monkeys, Ysaia has faced health challenges. She’s a bit of a contradiction—shy and delicate, requiring a regulated diet, but also a little fighter who’s gotten into a few scuffles with larger monkeys. She spends nights in an enclosure with other howlers, enjoying the freedom of the jungle by day, where they benefit from twice-daily food deliveries and special forest leaves. A volunteer favourite, it won’t be long before Ysaia transitions to living outside permanently.
Adopted by Lucie Dölling, since 2024.
TINGO
Species: Festive Amazon Parrot (Amazona festiva)
Sex: Male we think
Arrival EV: 06-06-2024
Est. Birthdate: adult when he/she arrived.
Tingo, like many animals at Esperanza Verde, was confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade, along with several other Amazon parrots. Tingo and Minga, both festive Amazons, arrived as a pair. After a quarantine period, all animals are introduced to their new homes, either in enclosures or for release. Tingo spent more time in quarantine than most, as we extended his stay so he could bond with new arrivals before moving to a larger aviary. Like many wild-caught birds, Tingo arrived with cut feathers. It will take time for him to regain full use of his wings. He’ll join the other Amazon parrots in our large “Pichu” aviary, where he will have ample space and plenty of opportunities to practice flight.
Adopted by Anna Ulrich, since 2025.
DAENARYS (aka Dani)
Species: Mealy Amazon Parrot (Amazona farinosa)
Sex: Female we think
Arrival EV: 31-07-2014
Est. Birthdate: adult when she arrived.
Dani is one of our long-term residents at Esperanza Verde, known by manyfor making funny sounds. Like many birds, we don’t know her full history, except that she was confiscated from the illegal pet trade. It seems she was a pet for some time before arriving, showing signs of self-mutilation from being kept in a small cage. This likely caused ongoing problems with one of her wings. Dani can’t fly and has been bullied by other birds on several occasions, so we’ve moved her around quite a bit. She’s now found a preferred home in the aviary with the non-releasable birds, where she’s started making her cute sounds again and found a partner in Drago, also a Meally Amazon.
Adopted by Monique Schreurs, since 2025.
MOYO
Species: Humboldt’s woolly monkey (Lagothrix lagothricha)
Sex: Male
Arrival EV: 16/07/2015
Est. Birthdate: 16/01/2015
Moyo was rescued from the illegal market in Lima, where he had been sold with a severely injured tail. After losing half of it, he was raised as a pet until his owners realized that monkeys aren’t suitable pets and brought him to us.
At Esperanza Verde, Moyo initially spent time outside but soon fell seriously ill from parasites that nearly claimed his life. After six months of intensive treatment, he recovered and was integrated with another woolly male in our enclosures. Moyo has become a remarkable success story in our fight against this type of parasite.
In 2024, we gave him another chance at freedom, and he successfully joined the group of monkeys living freely around the centre of Esperanza Verde.
Adopted by Lossless Charity, since 2024.
KASMIR
Species: Southern tamandua or Lesser anteater (Tamandua tetradactyla)
Sex: Male
Arrival EV: 15-03-2024
Est. Birthdate: December 2023
Kasmir was found abandoned on the ground and handed to the local authorities, who brought him to Esperanza Verde. At just three months old, we knew it would be a challenge. Anteaters are very picky with their food, possessing a strong sense of taste and smell. It took time and a variety of mixes to get Kasmir to eat properly. When he was ready for real food, the termites crawling all over him scared him at first. But the taste of the termites quickly won him over, and he eagerly began digging into termite nests. Kasmir was released in August 2024. Initially, he was taken out daily to explore the forest and find his own food, slowly preparing him for a life in the jungle. Then, we left his door open at night. For a while, we saw him return, but eventually, he decided to stay out and find his own way in the jungle.
Adopted by Martyna Grzesik, since 2024.
RUPANO
Species: Black Spider Monkey (Ateles chamek)
Sex: Male
Arrival EV: 08-02-2024
Est. Birthdate: August 2022
Rupano arrived together with several other animals, all confiscated in a community where they were used as a tourist attraction. After being his quarantine period he got to meet the outside monkeys from within the safety of on our outside enclosure. Then the doors opened, and he joined the monkey bunch living in semi-captivity at Esperanza Verde. He quickly got the hang of being outside in freedom again, joining the other youngsters, especial the boys: Miyo and Alessi.
Adopted by Anna Duijndam, since 2024.
ANISHKA
Species: Neotropical river otter (Lontra longicaudis)
Sex: Female
Arrival EV: 16-06-2020
Est. Birthdate: May 2020
Anishka was drifting off in the river when a woman found her, thinking this little brown creature was a puppy. Despite major close downs of big roads, due to the Covid pandemic, the woman managed to get Anishka all the way to EV. Being only 5 weeks old, she was still a small baby, and Olivia and Douwe took her in-house to take care of her. Her first-ever water experience was in the family’s bathtub and soon after, Marlon taught Anishka to swim and fish in the river. Anishka thoroughly enjoyed roaming freely through the jungle, exploring the waters, playing, catching crabs and fish, and was well on her way to being released into the wild. Volunteers took her further upstream, showing her where best to go to stay safe. They even spotted a wild otter there on several occasions and in December 2022 Anishka took her chances and left to become the otter she should be.
Adopted by Ewald Visser und Marije Bosman, since 2019.
MAYANTU
Species: Large Headed Capuchin (Sapajus macrocephalus)
Sex: Female
Arrival EV: 31-08-2017
Est. Birthdate: July 2017
A young girl from the village Bello Horizonte came walking into EV, carrying Mayantu on her arm. The girl’s family had shot little Mayantu’s mom to eat her and took the baby monkey home as a pet. She was a skinny monkey but very alert and active and we took her under our care. This brought us back to the memories of the first time we took such a small baby monkey in, Mica, now a big healthy female adult monkey! When the family killed Mayantu’s mother, she lost part of her tail, but Mayantu adapted amazingly well and has joined a big group of capuchins living around Esperanza Verde. In December 2022 she gave birth to her first born, a boy named Mayuki, and in October 2025 to Maysumaq.
Adopted by Ursula Bachem, since 2019.
MICA
Species: Large Headed Capuchin (Sapajus macrocephalus)
Sex: Female
Arrival EV: 05-11-2010
Est. Birthdate: October 2010
When we just opened our doors, a local villager handed Mica over to Esperanza Verde, so small, our team had to raise her by hand. When Mica was first released into the jungle, she still struggled to detach herself from human beings. Later she made impressive progress and developed a strong attachment to the outside group of capuchins. To our joy Mica gave birth to her first baby early 2018, Milana, who has grown herself into a beautiful female, fully integrated in the outside group. Unfortunately Mica passed away very suddenly in April 2023.
Adopted by Bigna Schulthess, since 2020.
AMORA
Species: Chestnut-eared Aracari (Pteroglossus castanotis)
Sex: Female we think?
Arrival EV: 22-02-22
Est. Birthdate: Unknown
Amora came to us, as part of a big group of several bird species, all confiscated at a private home. Most likely the owners intended to sell them off as pets, therefore most of the birds were already very tame. Amora luckily could fly, with her wings and feathers intact. After we freed her of some parasites and gave her the right diet, she got herself up again and grew into to the strong beauty she now is. Amora quickly has become a favourite to many of our volunteers, trying to get to the cleaning water to ´help´.
Adopted by Paola Chavez Salvador, since 2023.
YANAY
Species: Black Spider Monkey (Ateles chamek)
Sex: Female
Arrival EV: 22-08-2014
Est. Birthdate: December 2014
Yanay arrived with our resident male black spider monkey, Rimaq. She had been found in a cage along the road to the big city of Pucallpa, with no apparent owner. Very skinny and exhibiting stereotypical behaviour, Yanay grew into a beautiful adult female at Esperanza Verde. She gradually adapted to life outside the jungle and learned to keep her distance from humans. The process wasn’t easy for her, nor for us. But in the end, she succeeded, and over the years, she became known for ‘babysitting’ several younger monkeys. Eventually, she had a daughter of her own—Yayana—who has been growing up wonderfully, thanks to her excellent motherhood.
Adopted by Jette Wolbers, since 2023.
YANAMAYU
Species: Large Headed Capuchin (Sapajus macrocephalus)
Sex: Male
Arrival EV: 31-08-2019
Est. Birthdate: December 2016
Yanamayu was taken from the wild and ended up in illegal wildlife trade. A woman bought him and kept him as a pet. In 2019 she voluntarily handed Yanamayu over to Esperanza Verde after learning that capuchins are not so much fun as pets, they can become quite troublesome when confined in a house. Having been a pet for such a long time, Yanamayu could not be released into the wild anymore, too fixated on humans, and not able to survive on his own in the jungle. At EV he now lives in an enclosure together with other adult un-releasable monkeys. He adapted well and as the playful monkey he is, you can often see him fooling around with the other monkeys.
Adopted by Janick Yaussi, since 2023.
YUNA
Species: Ma´s Night Monkey (Aotus nancymaae)
Sex: Female
Arrival EV: 19-05-2023
Est. Birthdate: December 19-03-2023
With only 8 weeks old Yuna was left with the local authorities. So young we were directly contacted and picked her up to give her the proper care at Esperanza Verde. She grew quickly in a young lady, favourite of many volunteers who participated in her daily and nightly care. She first lived in an outside enclosure and had the company on occasions of, the already released males, Ushari and Otis. After some time she was released, and she joined them in the jungle.
Adopted by Sigrid Leerink, since 2023.
KELSO
Species: Linnaeus’s two-fingered sloth (Choloepus didactylus)
Sex: Male
Arrival EV: 19-08-2023
Est. Birthdate: June 2023
Kelso was handed over to the authorities after being rescued from a drunk man who was waving him around on his arm. Knowing that a young animal like him needed intensive care and proper nourishment, the woman in charge took the journey herself and brought Kelso to Esperanza Verde. With the help of Emmi Nutritional Solutions International, Kelso (estimated at 2-3 months old) was raised on goat milk. Bit by bit, he learned which leaves he could eat, with volunteers gathering fresh leaves from the forest for him every day. He was released in 2024, and initially, he continued to return to his enclosure to sleep most nights. However, at the end of 2024, he came back with a severe mite infestation, requiring him to be kept inside for treatment. Although he seemed to recover well and was preparing for re-release, his health suddenly declined, and he passed away unexpectedly in January 2025.
Adopted by Catelijne Maij-Cortlever, since 2024.
DINA
Species: Black-capped squirrel monkey (Saimiri boliviensis)
Sex: Female
Arrival EV: 22-12-2023
Est. Birthdate: November 2023
Dina was found by a local family on their plantation, with no mother nearby. At just 4-5 weeks old, she wouldn’t have survived long on her own. The family handed her over to Esperanza Verde, where a team of volunteers provided the care she needed. Raising a young monkey like Dina is a long and intensive process: feeding milk, porridge, vitamins, teaching her to eat solids, climbing trees, and socializing with other monkeys, while ensuring she didn’t become too attached to humans. She formed a small group with females Mina and Syenna, also newly introduced squirrel monkeys, and Milo, a male who had been living freely at EV since 2022. Dina disappeared suddenly in December 2024. Although we always hope for the best, she had usually stayed close to her group, so we suspect something happened to her during the night.
Adopted by Gina Flachowsky, since 2024.
MAIDA
Species: Red howler monkey (Alouatta seniculus)
Sex: Female
Arrival EV: 18-11-2021
Est. Birthdate: February 2021
Maida was taken out of the wild to be sold as a pet. Soon after she ended up with the authorities who brought her to Esperanza Verde in the company of woolly monkeys Keska and Tasha. They bonded together during the quarantine period, and when they were let outside Maida was accepted quickly by the other monkeys, taking a special place in the group, being the only howler (for now) outside. She also spends some of her time giving attention to Darwin, the adult male howler who lives at EV in an enclosure. She even tries to howl together with him. She is always a funny sight, with her special walk and play-face gestures.
Adopted by Maud Huygen, since 2024.