Loose End In LatAm

Extreme sports covering as conservation

Over the last couple of weeks I had to keep reminding myself that the animals, birds and children at this animal sanctuary in the Bolivian jungle were better off than they otherwise would have been, and that very few people are doing any kind of conservation here. But I also felt that I was somehow being disloyal to my own principles, and honestly couldn´t wait to leave. Within the first day I felt the park was chaotic and wastefully disorganised, in the next few I decided the people running the park were misguided even if their hearts were in the right place, but by the end of my stay I was doubting even that. I refuse to accept the patronising "but it´s Bolivia" excuse that other people in the camp gave: widespread poverty and bad infrastructure may be huge disadvantages, but if anything it´s made the Bolivians a hugely ingenious and resourceful people.

Bolita - dig your own hole
I stayed only because I had made a promise to myself I would complete building a house for Bolita, an utterly enchanting baby Giant Anteater. But this was more because I simply could not stand that a 10 year old boy continue sharing a bed with her. This is an example of contradictory and strange situations that the park allows. They treat most of the animals as pets initially, while deciding how they should be re-introduced to the wild if they can: for Junior, one baby howler monkey, having spent months sleeping in the volunteers beds, it was determined he should no longer do so, and so he was forced into a cage barely bigger than himself at nights, until a gang of us quickly built a new home for him. One other wild monkey that had been encouraged to visit was attacked and killed by a wild cat who is also encouraged to visit. Iggy, a depressed but other wise well iguana, had his leg broken whilst in the park's care by a racoon type animal. And on the day I left they were off bringing 3 ocelots and a puma back from Santa Cruz...wait for it... apparently by bus!

But perhaps the most ridiculous situation is that volunteers, with no supervision or experience, are allowed to walk (yep, animals on leads like dogs) jaguars and pumas. It's just a serious accident waiting to happen: bites and scratches are a daily occurrence and serious wounds regular. And I can't believe it's great for the animals' well being either. Unfortunately it also means some f**kwits actually encourage the cats to jump them, so they can get trophy scars. Something tells me giving big cats a taste for attacking humans might backfire at some point...

The conditions in the camp were fairly dreadful with showers and toilets sub music festival standards. There is no science taking place and plans for the animals are, at best, fluffy. I heard they are starting to build "luxuary" cabañas for day trippers, which will turn the place into little more than a zoo. I'm sure that improved conditions for (paying) volunteers and developing a serious programme would encourage most volunteers to stay longer, and pay more.


Bored Free

On a lighter side, there are some things that you´re never quite sure how you´re going to tell your mother, but when I arrived I was told I would help look after a puma called Elsa. The cat was on heat, she mewed when I called her name, followed me around, took no interest in the two women who I was working with, and I spent most of a week rubbing her hind quarters, ...yes mum, your son went to South America and got a job pleasuring a big cat. Elsa, a pet from being a cub, has apparently always disliked being walked and after some kind of "incident" a year ago has not left her cage. But while she was in a man-loving mood it meant she was safely approachable in her cage to the point that she would nuzzle my face.

Juan Carlito's Way
Every now and then I'd have to stop and think: Barney, you're in the middle of the Bolivian jungle with puma... and you're being bossed around by Juan Carlos, a 15 year old. Juan Carlito is a great kid, full of ideas (some of them rubbish by the way), who wants to be a vet. He also had a healthy fear of the jungle, a few of us took turns to walk him the 1km to his cabaña at night after he got a bit worried about doing the trip alone having seen a wild jaguar one night... can you blame him? Quite frankly what I would have done if the cat had turned up again I don't know, but I'm not sure trying to blind it with the faint glow of my maglite would have done the trick.


With Bolita´s house built and occupied, I have retreated to Santa Cruz for a hot shower, decent food and comfortable bed... shear luxuary.