Sandra's experience in Bolivia: "Every day was different, exciting and special".
It is one of the most special projects we collaborate with and we always like to hear about experiences such as Sandra's:
"Every morning when we woke up we had two tasks, one that varied daily and was cleaning the park or community work and the other was fortnightly and was carried out with the field animals (preparing food, feeding them first thing in the morning, cleaning the cage...).
Afterwards we had an hour for breakfast and were always reminded of the rules or improvements for the smooth running.
Around 9 a.m, each one was responsible for going to see the assigned animal until 12:30. Depending on the animal, routines and habits must be respected in order to offer the best care.
My mornings were dedicated to Juancho, a very old jaguar with a sad story. He came from a zoo in the country that no longer wanted him because, due to some accidents, he was no longer attractive to customers. The accidents suffered, due to malpractice by the workers, caused him to go blind and when he was operated on one of his hind legs he became lame.
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Juancho |
During the morning I kept Juancho company, him inside and me outside the cage: we walked together, we played with sticks .... he was very voice-guided and over the days we became very confident and I was able to pet him always with caution and in specific areas. Luckily, our relationship was very nice and we connected very well.
When we got back to the camp around 12:30, we had lunch with everyone and had some time to socialise with each other. Then around 14:00 you had to dedicate your afternoon, until 17:30, to the care of the second animal. In my case I had Lazycat, an ocelot, also of advanced age. With her my routine was different, I could walk along specific paths but always with safety measures. At the end of the routines we went back to the camp to share experiences with the rest of our companions.
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Lazycat and Sandra |
The best thing about this experience has been to be able to observe the animals free in their habitat and to be able to help to those who cannot be, in order to try to help them live as well as possible and as close as possible to their natural life.
Every day was different, exciting and special. Watching the evolution of your animal, meeting others in the virgin jungle of the park, smells, noises... and the moments spent with your companions".
Sandra's experience in rescued wildlife centre (Bolivia), June 2016