June 2024 Newsletter

We wish everyone a very happy San Juan and a wonderful Father’s Day to all! This month the jungle was very festive and filled with surprises.

Animals

After a long stint in the family house, Kelso (male juvenile two-toed sloth) has moved into a stunning outside enclosure, built by Douwe and Tom.Now that he’s outside, he’s officially part of the feeding tour. Leaves are a vital part of a sloth’s diet, so the volunteers take Kelso on daily leaf walks in preparation for his release.

Waldo and Cotok (adult male howler monkeys) started getting very vocal about their desire to leave their enclosure, so we listened to them (it was hard not to). It didn’t take them long to realise life outside an enclosure comes with its trials and tribulations, like fully grown woolly and spider monkeys showing you who’s boss. While the boys are more hesitant, we know time will help them find their place in EV’s big monkey family soon enough.

Valentino, Choco and Fasso (male large-headed capuchins) were also released from their enclosure. The remaining residents are the very human-focused Yanamayo and Selda (male and female large-headed capuchin). Before coming to Esperanza Verde they were both kept as pets for a long time. This resulted in an irreversible behaviour posing a threat to both humans and them-selves. Valentino, Choco and Fasso (male large-headed capuchins) have all been spotted, on several occasions exploring and foraging in the surroundings, and so far, they did not seem to have any interest in getting close to us.

Susy Utzinger Orphan Animal Hospital

Natzu (blue-headed parrot) was among the new arrivals, but was getting bullied, so we took him to safety in the clinic. Once he’s a fine flyer he’ll move in with the blue-headed parrot gang in the Igor enclosure.

And last but not least, two new yellow-footed tortoises are doing their stay in the clinic. Murat is a 6 kg male while Disney weighs in at 1/50 of Murat’s weight (that’s only 120g).

Do you remember Pichu? The white-eyed parakeet who’s been with us since 2014 and has a whole aviary named after him! He took a fall to the ground injuring his chest again. He’s getting loads of TLC at the clinic and hopefully will be back in the Igor enclosure in no time.

We recently found Delta (orange-winged parakeet) on the floor in Elmo, with wounds on her wings and feet. She seems to be enjoying Pichu’s company and delicious clinic food (without having to fight for it too).

Quarantine

It was quite the month in quarantine, but our well-oiled team led by Arthur, Carlotta and Samira, kept everything running smoother than a river otter’s wet belly.

Ysaia (female howler monkey) left quarantine and moved in with fellow howlers Waldo and Cotok. She ignored their attempts to play or interact on the first day, quickly asserting herself as the new sheriff in town.

Nintendo (male yellow-footed tortoise) moved from Tika to Momo and was later released into the wild. Go Nintendo, go!

In preparation for being reintroduced to the wild, Silvio (adult male white-fronted capuchin) and his friend Yuki (adult male saddleback tamarin) moved into the Tika enclosure, freeing up some much-needed space in the quarantine…

Brace yourself for this list of new arrivals…

  • Mida, Zora, Ikra, Azu, Dana and Feron, are 6 beautiful cobalt-winged parakeets that destroy our poor eardrums every time we enter their enclosure.

  • Mo, a white-winged parakeet, tries his best to fit in with the others without having a lick of blue in his feathers…

  • Tingo and Minga, 2 talkative and curious festive amazon parrots.

  • Santiago, a very vocal mealy amazon parrot.

  • Cusco, Eolus, Manwe and Sucre,4 orange-winged amazon parrots. Cusco needed surgery due to a chest wound, which quickly healed.

  • Argon is a male large-headed capuchin who has lived with humans for a long time. He is quite the character and comes with a unique set of challenges, which we are ready to tackle!

  • Kalisha is a juvenile female woolly monkey who LOVES to eat.

  • Freya is a young striped owl who has just started to eat without help!

Construction and others

Just when the giant river otter Caucho doesn’t seem to be able to become more giant, he does. That’s why we had to dig in our savings and are working diligently on a new and larger enclosure, named after neotropical river otter Anishka.

If you want to help finance or know someone who would love to sponsor the entire construction, please contact Olivia directly (olivia@esperanzaverdeperu.com). It will be a temporary enclosure for Caucho, while we take him on river walks during the day and prepare him for a future release in a safe area where other giant otters still exist.

In the future the Anishka-enclosure will serve for the rehabilitation in preparation for release for species that live close to the water, like otters and raccoons.

But construction is tricky with monkeys constantly roaming around. Their latest and super fun game seems to be called ‘How many holes can we make in a day’. So far, they haven’t created any major issues and all the volunteers have put in loads of extra time to find and repair all the holes, earning their post-work waterfall swim more than ever.

Volunteer life

June brings San Juan! On the 24th of June, the saint Jean-Baptist is celebrated by eating ‘Juanes’. It’s chicken, eggs, olives and rice neatly wrapped in a palm leaf. We always eat it by the waterfall and this year while the crew was splashing around, Olivia took on the role of guarding our food from curious coatis.

As you might have pieced together, Olivia is back from her recent big trip to the Netherlands!

She travelled from west to east, north to south, up and down and all around. Giving lectures at schools and universities about the work that Esperanza Verde does, showing young students interested in conservation and animal welfare the possibilities of their dreams.

She also joined the annual EV meetup and had several meetings with the EVI crew.

A new connection was made with the Zoo “Hof van Eckberge” sharing knowledge and experiences and the last stop on her tour was at the factory of Emmi Nutritional Solutions International, a company that has been donating powdered goats’ milk to EV, for several years (www.emminutritionals.com). This powder has been essential in the recovery for many sensitive youngsters, like sloths and anteaters.

Some great news she brought home as the Foundation Jaap van de Graaf from The Netherlands decided to support us yet again with a huge donation helping us to cover all the cost for the care of so many animals. Thank you!

We are incredibly lucky to have the support of many motivated ex volunteers and friends around the world. Continuously supporting us here in the jungle or from afar. This month Lauren and her partner Tim joined us! Lauren is EV’s first-ever assistant manager and volunteer coordinator and an enthusiastic member of EVI. They have come all the way from the UK and it’s been a pleasure working with them again and of course catching up on life over a jungle cocktail, or five.

¡Hasta Proxima!