Sponsor a Rescue Animal

Now you can support our rescued animals in Peru from anywhere in the world. As a sponsor, your contribution ensures that our animals in rehabilitation reach their final destination: reintroduction, and that our sanctuary animals live happy, healthy lives in their natural environment.

How does it work?

Choose a rescue animal to sponsor:

Felids (wild cats) in rehabilitation for release
Non-felids in rehabilitation for release (all other mammals and reptiles!)
Rescued wildlife in our sanctuary

95% of our animals are undergoing rehabilitation for their reintroduction into the wild. Funds go toward their care in captivity and costs associated with their translocation and release. For the animals in our sanctuary, funds go toward their constant care, enrichment and oftentimes, medicine.

What will you receive?

As a sponsor, you will receive:

Acknowledgement of your sponsorship on our website (scroll down!)
Email updates on your sponsored animal, including current photos, 3-4 times a year
Personal fulfillment knowing you are responsible for providing a wild animal with a second chance and a better life

Gold Sponsors: (> $1K USD) one-time or yearly

Silver Sponsors: (> $500 USD) one-time or yearly

Bronze Sponsors: (< $500 USD) one-time or yearly

Donations made by taxpayers in the U.S.A are tax deductible. Please record our EIN: 47-4323459

SPONSOR A RESCUE TODAY!

Felids In Rehab For Release

Non-Felids In Rehab For Release

Sanctuary Animals

about the animals

Artemis came to us at 4 months old. From her size alone, we thought she had to be younger – but her body simply had not been given the nutrients necessary to grow. She is now almost 40 kilos of muscle, freedom and determination. She will be released in Loreto, where she orginated, when she turns 2 years old.

Eywa’s mother was poached in a nearby community; a still-nursing Eywa was to be sold as a pet. Luckily she was intercepted by the authorities and transferred to our facility. Although tapirs stay with their mothers for three years, we are planning to release a fully independent Eywa just over two years old on our protected reserve.

This jaguar is known as “Precious.” She has been living in a roadside zoo for over ten years, forced to eat fat scraps from the local slaughterhouse while living in boredom and solitude. We are bringing her home to our sanctuary this January and she is in need of sponsors for her continous medication and care in our sanctuary.

Beastie was kept in a small, dark room for the first 5 months of his life. Although he suffered both physically and mentally from this time, he has improved greatly in our rehabilitation program and has become a confident, independent, beast of a jaguar. Beastie will be released near the Manu Reserve when he turns 2 years old.

The new “flower” squadron consists of three females and one male white-lipped peccary: Girasol, Orquidia, rosa, and bijau. They are all several months old, from different rescue missions, joined together to one day be released together. Please support our newest squadron of huanganas!

This female puma who we’ve sinced named ÑaÑay once had a sister. As kittens they were declawed and put in a zoo – years later her sister escaped and was sadly killed. For a year ÑaÑay has been alone, living a malnourished, stressed life. With your help we will change that, by providing her sanctuary at Hoja Nueva.

Nairi and Azura had an exhausting journey before hoja nueva. They were taken from their mother, kept as pets, and transferred around destined for a zoo before we heard about them. We fought with congress by our side to rescue nairi and azura and put them on the path toward reintroduction. They will be released in loreto in 2025, hopefully together!

Sacha and Huayo were rescued by the local government in Madre de Dios in 2022, and we have since raised them together as brothers to be released on our reserve. Although Sacha suffers from stunted growth, him and Huayo are successful seed predators and incredibly wild. We are hopeful that after release they will integrate with a wild squadron of white-lips on our protected reserve.

Marilyn came to us after having been trafficked since she was a kitten and likely passing through many hands before the zoo. She spent a year in a small, concrete holding facility and suffers from a chronic stress disorder due to several years of neglect and captivity. She now lives a happy, comfortable, high quality life at Hoja in her jungle enclosure, but unfortunately due to the physical and psychological damage she suffered is not able to care for herself in the wild.

Amaru was rescued by the local wildlife department here in Puerto Maldonado. She was taken from her mother far too soon, like so many before her. we thought we would lose her to the pure emotional trauma of losing her mother so young, and she is terrified of people so we have very little contact with her. Since she’s from here, amaru will be the first jaguar we are able to release and monitor on our own protected lands.

We are so thrilled that Grizzly, anaplasmo, papaya and pepino have accepted one another to form a group for release. They have come from grim circumstances in the pet trade and survived both physical and psychological traumas to become the successful coatis they are today. They work together to build nests and hunt for insects, and comfort one another through storms. Support their upcoming release by sponsoring them!

Margarita is our oldest resident, approx 15 years old. She spent a lifetime in an illegal zoo during which time she went almost fully blind from malnutrition and overexposure to sunlight before we were able to shut down the trafficking operation and rescue her. Surprisingly, her lack of sight does not keep her from living a happy and active life full of climbing, jumping, and chasing butterflies. Due to both her age and her vision impairment she will live out the rest of her life as the resident matriarch of our sanctuary.

Apollo and Adula both came to us from zoos when several years old. They were heavily humanized and at first, unable to hunt and kill their own food. Months later, Apollo and adula are now at the top of our list of wild cats to reintroduce. We plan to do so on our reserve, providing them with support if necessary by regularly tracking them and their movements.

Lilo and Stich are bonded male and female collared peccaries (sajinos) that have been instrumental in forming our second sajino group. We currently have a group of 8 individuals and will likely release them this upcoming wet season. Help support their care, rehab, enrichment and release today by sponsoring this beautiful group of second chances!

Billy is an adult peccary that we rescued at a young age who enjoys digging, destroying any enrichment items given to him, and dunking all his food in his pond before eating it. Due to not having any companions he was raised alone and did not develop the necessary social skills to join into a group. Fortunately, we rescued a female named Penny from a local zoo who will soon join Billy, and we can reevaluate their futures in the wild.

Lola is our youngest ocelot and one of our most recent rescues. Like many of our wild animals, she came from the regional pet trade. Lola is full of energy and is already hunting her own live prey. We have no doubt that in about nine months, Lola will be ready for release on our reserve where she will live wild and free.

Yellow-footed tortoises are listed as vulnerable by the IUCN. Their numbers in the pet trade are increasing, and returning each and every one to the wild is vital for wild populations. We would ideally tag (small AA-battery gps tag) each released tortoise to track their reintegration success and contribute valuable data of their disperal and spatial patterns, and we have 10 to release! Help sponsor a tortoise today!

Tom & Lucy are a pair of senior white-lipped peccaries that we rescued from a center that was no longer able to care for them. Having been raised in a petting zoo setting, they do not possess the necessary abilities for foraging and avoiding predators. However, they are very happy in our sanctuary area where they have a large enclosure in the forest, spending most of their time eating buckets full of root vegetables, chasing each other around, or wallowing in their mud pit.

We received Miski and Mango at 3 and 3.5 months old, and decided to put them together as if they were siblings. Since they had each other, they needed less human interaction at such vital stages in their development. Miski and Mango at less than a year old are now extremely wild and hunting on their own, together. We plan to release them when sexually mature, mid 2024!

Peter is our only kinkajou in rehabilitation for release. he is only several months old, but has been growing steadily since we received him as an infant. Kinkajous have more complex dietary and management requirements, so keeping him healthy and growing is a welcomed challenge for our team. They can stay with their mothers up to four years in the wild! Please consider sponsoring peter today.

Deino is a giant black caiman that has lived over 20 years in an illegal roadside zoo. Due to her size, she cannot be released into the wild. She would either be immediately killed by humans, or throw off the population in which she is inserted. Rescuing Deino is one of our largest undertakings yet, aimed for January 2024. You can support Deino’s rescue and care at Hoja Nueva by sponsoring her today!

Mara and Marito are our youngest margays, only 5 months old. they arrived after being trafficked from two separate places, but we have decided to join them together. Like miski and mango, having each other will limit human contact, activating their wild instincts even more. In around one year they will reach reproductive age and be released onto our reserve, together.

Snaggle and chubbs are two white caiman rescued from an illegal roadside zoo in puerto maldonado. Snaggle was in the worst state, with severe damage to his snout and teeth. We do believe they will recover enough physically to one day be released into the wild, although we have a lot of work to do before that date. Please consider sponsoring snaggle and chubbs, who might not be as easy on the eyes but sure need you just as much!

Jasper is one of our most unique residents. He was found in an abandoned zoo enclosure with nothing in it but a carboard box and a soiled sheet. We don’t know how long he went without food. He has made a full physical recovery since, but the trauma experienced during that time left him with a lasting neurological disorder which prevents him from being able to live in the wild. He will live in our sanctuary where his days are full of stimulating puzzles and enrichment activities to keep his inquisitive mind occupied.

Bagheera is our first ever jaguarundi rescue, and at first we thought we might lose him. He arrived at one month old, with half a tail and a serious infection. Our vets were able to save his life (and his tail!) and he is now growing larger and stronger by the day. We have no doubt about bagheera’s future wild life. He will take this jungle by a storm!

These two green anacondas (eunectes murinus) were rescued from our most recent zoo mission. They are approximately 8 years old, and are great candidates for reintroduction. We have been feeding them live prey and getting them accustomed to the local environment here, before we plan to release them this coming wet seasons. Snakes need sponsors too!

we found payo, old and forgotten at a roadside zoo. When we went to feed him, he almost broke out of his enclosure to get to the food. He was that hungry, and it was built that poorly. We will be accepting payo into our sanctuary early january 2024, where he will likely live out the rest of his days. If he cannot be rehabilitated for a wild life, we plan to join him with an older female in the future, to live out their days together.

Diabla was taken from the forest by people who thought she had been abandoned by her mother, and transported to the nearest forestry post where we were able to retrieve her. She is a chirpy, social puma with all of the makings of a wild female. We are excited to release Diabla on our protected lands in 2025, since she comes from madre de dios!

Gus is a survivor. he is one of the few newborn collared peccaries we’ve received to make it through the infant stage without his real mother by his side. as you can see, we provided gus with a surrogate peccary mom, this elephant stuffed animal, on his first day. He only sleeps when cuddled into her! This is also helpful in limiting human contact and imprinting. In 2 months we will join gus with two juvenile peccaries, lilo and stitch, to form their own new group for release.

Eddie & Naysha are two senior coatis who were previously kept as pets until abandoned by their owners. Due to their age and level of habituation to humans, they are no longer able to care for themselves in the wild and therefore will remain in our sanctuary. They spend most of their day napping, eating fruits, and playing with the complex enrichment puzzles provided for them (although Eddie is usually only interested in enrichment if it involves food!).