Hello from Kids Saving the Rainforest Animal Rescue and Sanctuary & Reforestation project!

Is it really 2020 already? 2019 was a great year for KSTR as we planted 10,000 on our reforestation property and treated many kinds of birds, sloths, kinkajous, monkeys, anteaters, coatis, porcupines, and other wild animals at our onsite vet clinic.  We also celebrated our 20th year anniversary in 2019.

We want to bring the New Year in right by thanking all of our donors, sponsors, and supporters of 2019.

Thanks to you all, our first 5K Rainforest Run was a huge success! So many people asked us to do it again next year, that it is now a tradition!!  So save the date for November 22, 2020!

This years finish line!

Everyone that ran the race had a tree planted in their name!
​(Ok, 2 year old Mariana didn’t run the race but she posed for the picture!)

These were the fabulous t-shirts for the racers!

And last but not least, our Sloth Mascot!  And yes, you can take a sloth selfie with him!

KSTR teamed up to help the Costa Rican government to promote “No Selfies With The Wildlife”.  The only wildlife that can be in pictures with humans are Plush Wildlife.  
This is our KSTR Staff to promote “No Selfies With The Wildlife”. 

Please remember to not take pictures with the wildlife, it is very stressful for them! They are voiceless so we are speaking for them!  

Many of you know that we have been teaching people not to feed the wildlife for over 15 years.  It started with 7 Reasons Not to Feed the Wildlife, then went to 10 Reasons and we are thrilled to say that there a now 11 Reasons because the government is enforcing the law if anyone does feed them.  

We have been disappointed to hear that people are still feeding them for personal and professional gain. The Mangrove Tours are feeding the white-faced monkeys to get them to come onto the boats and even let the tourists feed them. Hotels and Restaurants are feeding them to bring more tourists to their businesses.  

We have said for a long time that we are going to publish the names of the locations that are feeding them.  We never have because we want to live in harmony with the community.  But this is too important to allow it to happen anymore.  So please save the wildlife by reporting anyone feeding the wildlife to:
​jennifer@kstr.org

If you are feeding the wildlife, you now know you should stop. If you don’t stop, we owe it to the wildlife to publish your name with the local media and report you.

Wishing you all the best for the coming year, 2020!

Although our clinic is not equipped to handle a bear, it is perfectly capable of handling a tamandua! After I brought the squawking box into the clinic, the little anteater was checked over and moved to the nursery. There, she's been given the name Tinker, and she'll grow up for several months before being moved to the pre-release area. ​

​Additionally, I've concluded my internship project and presented the results of my work to the staff at KSTR. As I mentioned previously, I was trying to determine how long it takes for the kinkajous to habituate, or become bored of, enrichments that are put in their cage. From my data, I was able to conclude that interest in enrichments sharply drops off after just one day, which is unsurprising given the intelligence and dexterity of these animals. I recommended an enrichment schedule to the staff in the sanctuary, and now I will be working on writing up a protocol on the enrichments that I used, to provide ideas for future enrichments. I was glad that despite all of the technical difficulties and frustration involved, I was able to get results from my research that are going to help improve the care we are giving the animals.

I want to give a final update on the capuchin training because there is great news! After months of working with Hector, he came into the shift cage during training last week on multiple occasions! This is fantastic because it not only means that the clinic can conduct their physical exams soon, but it also shows that he is learning to trust the people that are taking care of him. With this foundation, we can continue to build on the training we are doing to allow us to more easily treat any medical conditions and provide a stimulating challenge for the capuchins. Moncho's training continues to progress as well; before I left, I went for a walk through the sanctuary and called out to him as I passed the capuchin cage. From the other side of the cage, he turned his head, then leaped and climbed over to where I was standing. This indicates to me that he recognizes his name and associates it with positive rewards, and it was also good to see him one last time before heading out.