Costa
Rica is a rainforested country in Central America, lying on both the Caribbean
and Pacific Oceans. It is well known for its volcanoes, beaches and protected
jungle.The country is also known for its biodiversity and its work with
protecting the environment and those creatures living in it.
There
are a number of unique places to visit in Costa Rica. These include a sloth
sanctuary and an unusual dog rescue center where the animals run free.
When heading
out on a Costa Rica tour, make a point to visit these unique animal
sanctuaries dedicated to helping the animals and preserving the environment
in Costa Rica.
1. Aviarios
del Caribe Sloth Sanctuary - Limon, Costa Rica
The sanctuary
has made its mission to protect and rehabilitate the three-toed sloths
of Costa Rica. The center not only protects the cute animals, but also
cares for them, studies them and perfects research on their various habitats
throughout Costa Rica. Due to the fact sloths are so cute, they are becoming
an endangered species in the world, either through loss of habitat or from
poachers selling them as pets. Sometimes their mothers die, leaving them
alone.
The
sanctuary started in an unusual way. In 1992, the owners of a small hotel
outside Limon were given an orphaned sloth, named Buttercup. Instead of
running a bed and breakfast, the owners decided they wanted to do more
and Buttercup became the first of many orphaned sloths that required help
re-adjusting to normal life in the wild.
The
team at the sanctuary has hand-reared over 100 orphaned sloths found in
Costa Rica since 1997. They have also worked with other animal rehabilitation
centers and zoos. 2004 saw a new learning center built by the sloth sanctuary
to educate the public about the dangers of the loss of habitat for the
sloths, particularly new power lines being set up in the country. Often
weaker baby sloths are abandoned by their mothers, who fear for their own
lives when trying to collect their clumsier babies from the ground.
As
the sanctuary grew, with a clinic, nursery and quarantine center, the team
running Aviarios del Caribe are hoping to construct more enclosures to
protect the animals and partner with wildlife researchers performing veterinary
studies worldwide. This will include a sloth adoption program, which doesn’t
mean people take sloths home as pets, but concerned citizens can help by
supporting individual sloths from a distance.
Meet
some of the orphaned sloths living in the sanctuary and the volunteers
that are helping bring them up in the video included here. Aviarios del
Caribe is located 22 mi (35 km) south of Limon and 6.2 mi (10 km) from
Cahuita National Park.
2. Territorio
de Zaguates (Land of Strays) - Alajuela, Costa Rica
Like many
countries in this world, Costa Rica has a problem with stray dogs. There
are an estimated more than one million stray dogs all over the country,
which isn’t safe for the animals themselves, or for humans. Costa Rica
has criminalized euthanasia, choosing to rather neuter or spay the dogs
instead. While many street dogs end up in shelters and find new homes,
people are more likely to choose pedigreed dogs than the average, mixed-breed
street mutts.
Territorio
de Zaguates (Land of Strays) is a different type of dog rescue center.
No particular breed of dog gets a preference. They are allowed to mix freely
in a free-range shelter, where veterinarians do attempt to trace each dog’s
pedigree, mostly by guesswork. They have come up with their own original
“pedigrees,” including charming breeds like the “Freckled Terrierhuahua”
or the “Furry Pinchscher Spaniel.”
When
the head veterinarian was interviewed on television in Costa Rica some
time ago, he explained about the uniqueness of their “special breeds,”
saying these are dogs that only exist in Costa Rica. When people watched
the documentary, many contacted the shelter, wanting to adopt the unusually
named breeds for themselves, including such other delights as a “Long Legged
Irish Schnaufox” or "Fire-Tailed Border Cocker."
An
artist painted beautiful water colour pictures of the many dogs in Territorio
de Zaguates, which were used in an advertising campaign on billboards and
in bus stations, leading to many people heading there to “adopt a unique
breed.” As Atlas
Obscura noted, the made-up pedigrees accomplished a lot. Firstly, it
drew attention to the fact that pedigrees are a human invention, and it
is well known that pedigreed dogs tend to live shorter lives than mutts
or “special breeds.”
The
second aspect of the advertising was to show people how special every dog
is and the shelter now holds sponsored hiking events where residents and
visitors touring
Costa Rica can hike the trails on the mountain, surrounded by hundreds
of well-kept, happy dogs. Of course, they are welcome to adopt the dog
(or dogs) or their choice. Enjoy a short, sub-titled documentary about
Territorio de Zaguates below.
The
sanctuary started in an unusual way. In 1992, the owners of a small hotel
outside Limon were given an orphaned sloth, named Buttercup. Instead of
running a bed and breakfast, the owners decided they wanted to do more
and Buttercup became the first of many orphaned sloths that required help
re-adjusting to normal life in the wild.
