First: a bit of gloom

It is suspected that the strict lockdown in Ecuador increased hunting activities. Many people were left with no income or support at all and desperation drove more people into the forests to find food or log trees. Therefore, we fear to see an influx of animals in the near future.

The economy was hit hard and the government has cut down on conservation. Many people were fired from the department of environment, including a lot of the national park guards. It sets the tone for the time to come and it will up to NGO’s, private projects, and indigenous communities to stand up for nature.

Stronger together

We encountered our own drama last month when a massive tree fell down and seriously damaged the woolly monkey enclosure. All the monkeys are fine, and have been transferred to another enclosure. But their old home needs replacing as soon as possible. Resources and time are already scarce. But we try to give it a positive spin and are looking into options to create an even better place for them! If you would like to donate towards the woolly area renovation, please click here. Or you can join our Give us 5-community. This group of monthly Merazonia supporters is keeping Merazonia afloat and makes it possible for us to keep improving. Stronger together: it is that simple.

Moving on to the glory

After 9 months of lock down, we seem to finally be getting a breather. Most of the volunteers, dubbed the Lockdown Legends have left but some fresh volunteer blood is trickling in and is taking some weight off the shoulders of our overworked crew. New animals have arrived: two groups of tamarin monkeys, a young red howler money, various parrots and an adorable but seriously wounded coati called Chucho. More animals are already on the waiting list to be brought here. We also welcomed two new rescued dogs to the team: Aliyah and Taz!

For more animal updates please follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

We still give them some extra food and they all look in amazing shape. Ruby and especially Pepper improved their tree climbing skills to a near professional howler level. We are collaborating with a production company called Hive Media who will soon publish a compilation video of all our howler activities. We will keep you posted on that. If you have not seen the amazing video they made about Andy the anteater,  click here

Toby tha tayra

A few months ago, Toby the juvenile tayra, a volunteer favourite, was brought to our deep jungle release site. From here, he sort of gently wandered off into the forest when he thought it was time. He was spotted once more a week later by Sarah. He was in good condition and shied away from her instantly, which is perfect behaviour, especially for an animal that was hand-reared by humans!