Adopted Animals at Esperanza Verde

ANISHKA

Species: Neotropical river otter (Lontra longicaudis)
Sex: Female
Arrival EV: 16-06-2020
Est. Birthdate: May 2020

Anishka was drifting off in the river when a woman found her, thinking this little brown creature was a puppy. Despite major close downs of big roads, due to the Covid pandemic, the woman managed to get Anishka all the way to EV. Being only 5 weeks old, she was still a small baby, and Olivia and Douwe took her in-house to take care of her. Her first-ever water experience was in the family’s bathtub and soon after, Marlon taught Anishka to swim and fish in the river. Anishka thoroughly enjoyed roaming freely through the jungle, exploring the waters, playing, catching crabs and fish, and was well on her way to being released into the wild. Volunteers took her further upstream, showing her where best to go to stay safe. They even spotted a wild otter there on several occasions and in December 2022 Anishka took her chances and left to become the otter she should be.

Adopted by Ewald Visser und Marije Bosman

MAYANTU

Species: Large Headed Capuchin (Sapajus macrocephalus)
Sex: Female
Arrival EV: 31-08-2017
Est. Birthdate: July 2017

A young girl from the village Bello Horizonte came walking into EV, carrying Mayantu on her arm. The girl’s family had shot little Mayantu’s mom to eat her and took the baby monkey home as a pet. She was a skinny monkey but very alert and active and we took her under our care. This brought us back to the memories of the first time we took such a small baby monkey in, Mica, now a big healthy female adult monkey! When the family killed Mayantu’s mother, she lost part of her tail, but Mayantu adapted amazingly well and has joined a big group of capuchins living around Esperanza Verde. In December 2022 she gave birth to her first born, a boy named Mayuki.

Adopted by Ursula Bachem

CHIQUITA

Species: Humboldt´s Woolly Monkey (Lagothrix lagothricha)
Sex: Female
Arrival EV: 27-01-2016
Est. Birthdate: August 2015

Chiquita was discovered in a market in Peru, dressed as a Princess, with fingernails painted with nail polish. A good thing she was confiscated by the authorities and brought to Esperanza Verde. Like many other baby monkeys, poachers killed her mother and sold Chiquita into illegal wildlife trade. Being safe in our rescue centre, she has grown into a healthy adult female and is part of big group of woolly monkeys living free at Esperanza Verde.

Adopted by family Schönbächler

MICA

Species: Large Headed Capuchin (Sapajus macrocephalus)
Sex: Female
Arrival EV: 05-11-2010
Est. Birthdate: October 2010

When we just opened our doors, a local villager handed Mica over to Esperanza Verde, so small, our team had to raise her by hand. When Mica was first released into the jungle, she still struggled to detach herself from human beings. Later she made impressive progress and developed a strong attachment to the outside group of capuchins. To our joy Mica gave birth to her first baby early 2018, Milana, who has grown herself into a beautiful female, fully integrated in the outside group.

Adopted by Bigna Schulthess

AMORA

Species: Chestnut-eared Aracari (Pteroglossus castanotis)
Sex: Female we think?
Arrival EV: 22-02-22
Est. Birthdate: Unknown

Amora came to us, as part of a big group of several bird species, all confiscated at a private home. Most likely the owners intended to sell them off as pets, therefore most of the birds were already very tame. Amora luckily could fly, with her wings and feathers intact. After we freed her of some parasites and gave her the right diet she got herself up again and grew into to the strong beauty she now is. Being so tame, she is one of the few exceptions to EV’s strict non-touch policy. Amora quickly has become a favourite to many of our volunteers. She often spends time with Eros, the other aracari, and loves to show him how the big macaws in the Elmo enclosure are to be dealt with!

Adopted by Paola Chavez Salvador.

YANAY

Species: Black Spider Monkey (Ateles chamek)
Sex: Female
Arrival EV: 22-08-2014
Est. Birthdate: December 2014

Yanay arrived together with our resident male black spider monkey: Rimaq. She was found in a cage along the road to the big city of Pucallpa, with no apparent owner. Very skinny, and showing stereotypical behaviour, at EV she grew into a beautiful adult female. Yanay slowly adapted to outside life in the jungle again and learned to stay away from us humans. This process wasn’t easy for her but neither for us. In the end she got there and taking up the role of ‘babysitting’ several smaller monkeys during the years, she now has her own beautiful baby girl, named Yayana, to take care of.

Adopted by Jette Wolbers.

YANAMAYU

Species: Large Headed Capuchin (Sapajus macrocephalus)
Sex: Male
Arrival EV: 31-08-2019
Est. Birthdate: December 2016

Yanamayu taken from the wild, ended up in illegal wildlife trade. A woman bought him and kept him as a pet. In 2019 she voluntarily handed Yanamayu over to Esperanza Verde after learning that capuchins are not so much fun as pets, they can become quite troublesome when confined in a house. Having been a pet for such a long time, Yanamayu could not be released in to the wild anymore, too fixated on humans, and not able to survive on his own in the jungle. At EV he now lives in an enclosure together with other adult un-releasable monkeys. He adapted well and as the playful monkey he is, you can often see him fooling around with the other monkeys.

Adopted by Janick Yaussi