2022: Back On Track

Jan 17, 2023

In 2022 we released many animals and built a new, specialised enclosure. Two complete novelties also stand out: the arrival of solar energy and a creature called Goliath...

baby capuchin monkey happy

This year, volunteers were able to reach us in great numbers again to help take care of the animals. This gave our permanent staff the tools (and means) to prep many animals for that first step back into the wild. We are proud of the things we achieved, together with our volunteers and donors.


We remember two releases fondly in 2022: the first being that of seven blue headed parrots who were the first to be freed from our brand new bird of prey enclosure, the other was anteater Federico who confidently took on the wild after spending four months with us.


Merazonia also received our first ever Giant anteater this year, who has been progressing wonderfully and keeping us on our toes during his daily jungle adventures! But first, lets talk about those releases...

Freedom for seven blue headed parrots


After months of preparation, we were delighted to watch seven blue headed parrots regain their freedom. Not only did they deal with the transition very well; we were also able to (gradually) release them from our newly built (and completely donor funded!) rehabilitation enclosure. Above you can see one individual soaring high above our plantation and here is the enclosure - isn't she a beauty?!


The design was thought out in such a way that once the bird (or birds in this case) were ready to go, we would be able to open up the entire top section of the cage, allowing them to leave in their own time, leaving our interference to an absolute minimum.


This worked perfectly for the blue heads, as we hope it will for many birds of prey in the future! Some intel for you: as we write this blog, we are busy caring for a baby Band-bellied owl, who we plan to be the enclosures next temporary resident!

The anteater with an amazing attitude to life!


Federico arrived in May as a fragile, clumsy little creature but look at him now! If you haven’t seen this recent video, in which he creates his own jungle highway, sliding down a trunk, then you must watch it.


Federico was released in mid September after our volunteers found it increasingly difficult to keep track of him while out on his daily jungle walks. A lot like anteater Andy before him, Federico reached the stage where he simply didn't need us any more. And wow has he been doing well. Every now and again he pops by to show us how well he's doing in the wild, before continuing on his never ending hunt for juicy ants and termites. Well done Federico!

Not to forget all the other animals that passed through Merazonia in 2022:

From left to right: the year was started off right in early January, with the release of a Striped owl who had been hit by a car; a Yellow-footed tortoise who munched her way through her time at Merazonia before being moved to a lower altitude centre for release; a beautiful common boa who was relocated to the Merazonia reserve after being found in a nearby town; and a feisty two-toed sloth who was brought to us after causing some disruption on a nearby road.

In other anteater news, have you met Goliath?!

In September, Merazonia received its first ever Giant anteater. At just two months old, Goliath was found alone and confused on a road in northeastern Ecuador. His mum was presumably hit by a car as he should have been hitching a ride on her back for at least the first year of his life.


Thankfully, Goliath was found promptly and has been doing incredibly well with us! His days are spent exploring the jungle with his surrogate mum/dad and his instincts to seek out every single termite, ant and grub are growing more powerful by the day.


And, the word "giant" is no joke! Five month old Goliath is already slurping up more costly goats milk daily, than any other smaller anteater species we've housed. It's also quite the challenge to transport the little monster around as his preferred method to do this is, naturally, to cling onto our backs which you can imagine is quite the feat with claws his size!


A huge thank you goes out to Instituto Tamandua in Brazil, for sharing so willingly their expertise with us. In the world of wildlife rehabilitation it is so, so important to share knowledge and for this we are incredibly grateful!


For more Goliath info (and pics!) or to symbolically adopt him, click here.

In capuchin news: lovely Moira is over the moon with her new friend Ryan

Cheeky, energetic youngster Ryan was about four months old when he arrived to Merazonia in May after being found in Macas, a big city about two hours from us. His fur was in poor condition, deeming it likely that he had been away from his mum for a while. Timid and unsure of his new surroundings, Moira took him under her wing and the two have been inseparable ever since (...probably bonding over their shared mission to take over the world some day!).ο»Ώ

baby capuchin monkey happy
baby capuchin monkey happy

Freedom is just around the corner for Merazonia's woolly monkeys...

After seeing a steep increase in baby woolly arrivals over the past couple of years, we have been able to bring together a healthy group of seven individuals. Fonzi is the prospected alpha male of the group (even though he doesn't act like it and gets mostly bossed around by entitled, adult female Carmiña). The rest is made up by five playful youngsters: Pedro Jr, Chancho, Django, Ojo and Leo.


If all goes to plan, we aim to get the release moving by February, which will mean we have received all necessary tracking equipment and carried out final pre-release health checks. Both tracking equipment and health checks are costly necessities which wouldn't be possible without out you all. So, thank you to every one of you who has donated in the past months including during our campaign for Giving TuesdayYour support is incredibly appreciated and we're so humbled by our kind Merazonia family, near and far.

baby capuchin monkey happy

But wait... we have one more youngster to (hopefully) join!

Baby Shimi is the latest woolly to arrive to Merazonia. She's about four months old and originally arrived to another centre back in October. She was taken care of there before being sent to us temporarily, for medical treatment.


Shimi had suffered electrocution to her mouth after dangerously chewing on a baby monitor cord but thankfully (although looking severe) her wounds were only superficial.


After making such wonderful progress at Merazonia and responding well to our woolly troop, it was decided that Shimi stay with us and (fingers crossed) join the release!


The verdict of whether Shimi will join depends on adult female Carmiña. If Carmiña takes to her, like she has with other babies in the past, Shimi will be joining the release from the safety of Carmiña's back.

Other Merazonia achievements: Solar power (?!) and some special thanks

Solar power is something we've been working towards at Merazonia for some time. Our aim was to deem ourselves completely self-reliant for our energy needs, and that is exactly what we did!


A huge thank you to our sponsor Deloitte, which is the company of an ex volunteer who made it possible. And don't worry! We assure that Merazonia still has its candle-lit charm. Power simply means that we don't have to use that noisy generator of ours. It also means our hard working volunteers are able to see their belongings after 6pm in the volunteer house!

This year, we put a lot of effort into making everybody outside Merazonia feel part of what happens inside Merazonia and we hope you felt that! A massive thank you is in place for the mastermind behind our online presence, Megan. She also created us this snazzy, new website on the side, which we invite you to explore.


Our team was also extended with Ana from Quito. Not only does she assist Megan, but she also takes care of much of our dreaded administrative work. Hopefully we will get to see more of her here in the jungle in 2023, so we can also put her biology background and masters in Applied Animal Behaviour to good use.

baby capuchin monkey happy

Working with wildlife in the Amazon will always come with it's challenges...

Whether its weathering a 15-day national strike that seriously jeopardises our food supply or pulling a weakened baby monkey away from the gates of death with intensive care and devotion, all is made possible by our dedicated Merazonia family, near and far.


And on that note, we'll leave you with this gorgeous photo of our released howler girls, high above Merazonia, chilling out in their favourite species of tree: cecropia!


This photo is courtesy of our extremely talented photographer Stewart Maclean aka @wanderingstew. Somehow we got lucky enough to have him stay with us for an extended period of time, and it is he who provided us with the majority of exceptional photos seen here on our new website.

A word from Merazonia Director and Founder: Frank Weijand

Thank you, team, for always putting in that extra step. For continuously thinking of how we can do better; for that fantastic combination of knowledge and passion: a combination that gives the animals back their liberty.


Thank you also, to all of you, for continuously believing in Merazonia and what we're capable of. With your support, we are able to continue the work we do, always striving to give the best possible care with the best possible techniques, to wildlife in need.


Thanks to all, for joining us on this crazy ride. May 2023 be the best one yet!

Want to stay up to date in 2023?

To not miss a beat, make sure to follow us on Instagram @merazonia_refuge

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