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Jaguar Rescue Center: Helping Injured Animals Go Back Home

December 6, 2017 By Sammi 2 Comments

He’s kind of the pet of the Jaguar Rescue Center. My guide pointed to the pelican that was strutting around in the corner. What happened to him? I asked.

Jaguar Rescue Center Puerto Viejo Costa Rica - Pelican
Pistachio the pelican

His wing, he pointed out. I focused my gaze on the pelican’s wing and it did fold funny, kind of like when I tried to do origami as a kid and the corners never seemed to line up correctly.

Pistachio caught my eye and shook his whole body as if to show off. He’s the boss around here our guide said with a laugh.

Giving a loud squack, Pistachio then proceeded to pose handsomely as visitors started snapping his picture. He was the boss for sure!

This was the first animal we saw at the Jaguar Rescue Center in Puerto Viejo and I have to say, Pistachio was an excellent door greeter and made all the kids squeal. But his spotlight was quickly stolen by a deer and peccary that showed up quietly behind us. The peccary walked around us, almost stepping on my foot and nuzzled his nose up against our guide as if he wanted some cuddles!

At this point, I have to admit it almost felt like a zoo. Almost. But I knew it wasn’t. The Jaguar Rescue Center is the exact opposite – a rescue center and one of the best in Costa Rica.

If you love animals and want to learn more about wildlife in Costa Rica, then you have to go to the Jaguar Rescue Center. They’ve been rescuing and rehabilitating animals since 2008, working hard to help the injured animals in Puerto Viejo.

Jaguar Rescue Center Tour

Entrance Fee and Hours

Visitors can take a tour of the center to learn more about their mission and philosophy. Jaguar Rescue Center has open tours Monday – Saturday at 9:30 AM and 11:30 AM. It is around 2 hours and the rescue center fee is $22 USD per person. Children under 10 are free. You need to arrive 15 minutes before the tour starts to pay and get checked in.

There were a good amount of people when we visited (around 50) and the tours are split up by language (French, Dutch and German available by request).

We went to Jaguar Rescue Center as part of the tour by Caribe Fun Tours. The tour was Jaguar Rescue Center + Punta Uva and they took care of the entrance fee and transportation for us.

Location

The center is in the Playa Chiquita area, right across from hotel Villas del Caribe. It’s about 5 kilometers from Puerto Viejo downtown so you can ride a bike or take the bus from Puerto Viejo to Manzanillo and get off at Chiquita.

The Tour

The tour goes throughout the center at each station with our guide sharing the back story of each animal: how they found them, their injuries and their progress. We met a juvenile anteater, baby howler monkeys, sloths, toucans, owls and more, each with their own unique story. Though their goal is to release as many animals back into the wild, some simply cannot, such as Chanchita.

Jaguar Rescue Center Puerto Viejo Costa Rica
Chanchita, the peccary

Chanchita is a peccary who won’t be released back in the wild. Peccaries are very social animals that travel in large groups and families but they were worried if they released her, she might get hunted by humans since she is very used to people now.

And she’s OK with that as she’s another boss at Jaguar Rescue Center!

We also got to see the highlight of the Jaguar Rescue Center: the sloths. They have separate sections for the sloths built specifically to fit their needs when they’re babies, juveniles and adults.

They have a sloth garden, trees and enclosures. We didn’t see any babies, we saw mostly adult sloths sleeping and eating and only two-fingered sloths.

I found it interesting that there must have been at least 10-20 two-fingered sloths but no three-fingered sloths.

I have heard that it is easier to have two-fingered sloths in captivity and to treat them, since they have a more diverse diet whereas the three-fingered sloths have a stricter diet.

Jaguar Rescue Center Puerto Viejo Costa Rica sloth tree
Sloth garden
Jaguar Rescue Center Puerto Viejo Costa Rica
two-fingered sloth
Jaguar Rescue Center Puerto Viejo Costa Rica
Two-fingered sloths eating breakfast in the enclosure
Jaguar Rescue Center Puerto Viejo costa Rica sloth
Sleeping sloth with teddies

We didn’t get to hear too much of the backstory on the sloths but I’m not surprised they had so many. It’s very common for sloths to get injured from walking on power lines or getting hit by cars in Puerto Viejo.

Jaguar Rescue Center Puerto Viejo Costa Rica
Jaguar Rescue Center monkeys – baby howlers

We then got to meet a couple of mischievous baby howler monkeys.

The sloth and monkey section had volunteers who had the difficult job of watching the animals, at least the lady who had to watch the monkeys.

The sloths are easy to watch but those babies were jumping everywhere and she had to go chase them down a couple of times!

The center doesn’t allow any guests to hold or touch the animals which I appreciated. They want to do everything they can to rehabilitate the animals so they can successfully go back to the wild  if their health is good and they have the skills.

Here are some more pictures of the animals we saw and of the center. They’re currently expanding it to build more enclosures for the animals because they receive from 500-700 animals every year!

Jaguar Rescue Center Puerto Viejo Costa Rica
Volunteer watching over baby howler monkeys
Jaguar Rescue Center Puerto Viejo Costa Rica
Keel-billed toucan
Jaguar Rescue Center Puerto Viejo Costa Rica
One of the volunteers feeding one of the animals (I forgot what it was)
Jaguar Rescue Center Puerto Viejo Costa Rica
Parrot
Jaguar Rescue Center Puerto Viejo Costa Rica
Owl
Jaguar Rescue Center Puerto Viejo Costa Rica
Two deer
Jaguar Rescue Center Puerto Viejo Costa Rica
An anteater we saw digging up the branch. They said it was his first time foraging by himself

They also have an area for snakes. This is because they receive school groups and are educating the kids about snake safety as most locals kill snakes immediately if they see one in their yard. This is actually harmful to the environment as snakes are important predators in the ecosystem so they want to educate locals on what to do when they encounter a snake instead of killing it. I thought this was wonderful since snakes are very important and sadly they have a bad reputation which leads locals to killing them all the time.

One animal you won’t see at the center: a jaguar. The center is named after the first injured animal that was brought to them, a sick baby jaguar. He didn’t survive so they named the center in his honor.

All in all, I really enjoyed our tour at Jaguar Rescue Center. They were organized, educational and fun. This is a great activity for all travelers, especially for families because it’s pertinent to educate the future generation about nature and conservation and Costa Rica is an incredible destination to do so.

Jaguar Rescue Center Private Tour

They center also runs private tours which I do recommend if you want to have more time with the animals and not be in a large group. The private tour costs $60 per person, minimum 2 people and must be reserved in advance.

Jaguar Rescue Center Night Tour

They also run night tours at La Ceiba, their second site. This is actually their release site and it is in the rain forests of Punta Uva near the Gandoca Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge.

Jaguar Rescue Center Volunteer

Dream of giving your time to help injured animals? Volunteer at the center! You need to apply and be able to give a 4 week commitment.

For more information on volunteering or the center, check the Center website.

Watch our video below to see more about the center.

Read more articles about Puerto Viejo below!

Cahuita National Park

Punta Uva

Bribri Chocolate Tour

Filed Under: Activities and tours Costa Rica

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. cassie says

    August 23, 2019

    does the private tour allow interaction with the animals?

    Reply
    • Sammi says

      August 23, 2019

      No, they don’t allow any interactions or holdings of the animals as they are all recuperating.

      Reply

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