I spent a month volunteering at a Manatee Rescue project on the outskirts of Iquitos in the Amazon Jungle of Peru. My work there was to guide English speaking tourists and to assist the project in it's endevours to raise some funds to fund the education of the locals in regards to Manatee and general environmental conservation.
The centre basically does two things. It rescues and rehabilitates orphaned manatees for eventual release back into the wild. And secondly, it is educating the local communities about the need to protect these animals and to look after the environment in general. Because really, there isn't much point rescuing them if they remain a food source. So the second part is extremely important.
The centre has been operating just over 2 years, it currently has 12 Manatees and is expecting to release the oldest of these late this year.
The Manatee problem is that the local communities, if given the chance, will often kill an adult Manatee for food. It isn't considered good food, but, with adults reaching almost 3 metres and 450kgs, it is BIG food. That removes a valuable animal from the ecosystem, and often leaves a baby Manatee unprotected and without a source of milk. So, the locals take the calf with the idea of attracting tourists with it or selling it as a pet. Most of these calvesdie within months of being taken into captivity. They need milk for the first 2 years of their lives and cow's milk is too high in lactose. So they get malnutrition, colic, diarrhea, as well as perhaps suffering from a harpoon, machete or net wound from their initial capture. If they do survive, life is likely to be in bad conditions... small cages in the water, or in polluted unclean water.
The rescue centre (ACOBIA) often finds out about these captured calves through its aducation program. Last year they educated about 40,000 kids. Kids often like to do the right thing, and often when they learn about Manatees they tell the ACOBIA staff that they know where there is a Manatee... and in this way the Rescue staff can approach the community or people and request possession of the Manatee. Capturing and/or killing a manatee is illegal... but the locals mostly don't know that.
The education is mostly provided to Kids. They are more accessible in the schools and more willing to listen. It's not that they (ACOBIA) don't bother with adults, they'll tell anyone they can and while I was there I got to accompany staff on a trip upriver to give a presentation to fisherman. The presentation was about minimum catch sizes, fish farming as an alternative, and the protection and value of Manatees and Dophins in the Ecosystem.
The Amazonian Manatees are threatened with extinction. These defenseless creatures have only humans to blame for this. They are rarely taken by any other animals because they are just too big, and they live in the water. The locals are being taught to understand that they have to take care of the environment, or there won't be anything left for their children to eat. Take the Manatees from the ecosytem and you might have too many aquatic plants, these starve the water from Oxygen, and then fish die. Also, adult Manatees contain a lot of mercury, and this isn't good for human consumption.
I hope that ACOBIA can continue in its success. The Rescue side of things is funded by the Dallas World Aquarium, and with my help they are now poised to make more money from tourists visiting the site and the new website (still being constructed).The money will assist in providing education to yet more people, and in the future the plan is to incorporate a lot more general conservation message into their talks.
The center can be visited free of charge and I highly recommend it. You might even get to touch a Manatee! It is on the way to Quistococha, Take a Mototaxi or Collective 49 directly, or any collective bus to the terminal and than a collectivo mototaxi headed to Quistococha. Ask to stop at IIAP Carretera.
The new website is http://www.acobia-dwazoo.org/ .
Education onsite
Education is given at the centre and externally in the communities. At the centre you might get the chance to help feed them. Second from left is staff member Darwin.
A group of school children visiting the centre.
Trip to educate fisherman in a Riverside town.
On my "Business trip" to Requena, BYO hammock, as usual, as well as a mobile internet connection if you want to work whilst in transit.
Kelly talks to the fisherman about protecting the Manatees. She was congratulated for giving a speach that was clear and easy to comprehend. Remember these are fisherman, doing the best they can to feed their families today, and being taught to think about their childrens families in the future.
Requena has about 40,000 people. I thought it was rather picturesque.
I had to grab this photo! They seemed to be heading home for the day. In Requena.
Trip to educate kids in riverside communities
Breakfast on day 1, whilst waiting for the boat to depart.
Yarapa River Lodge is a tourist lodge with wonderful facilities, it supports the education of 4 local communities that live nearby.
Going to invite a community of school children to come to our 'show'. Andy (I call him Squeegee, they call him something similar I couldn't pronounce), Joy, me, and Christian.
One of the advantages of being a Gringa.... the Gringa tourists invited me on their morning riverboat birdwatching tour. I saw wild Scarlett Macaws and lots lots more.
Here come the kids. The lodge gives them breakfast (it encourages attendance and concentration), and provides a space.
Learning about the environment is clearly fun.
We had a puppet show. This is Pablito, a tourist who likes to see the environment looking healthy and without rubbish.
Then we drew pictures... well I just watched and encouraged. I couldn't begin to think how to draw a monkey.
Actually I drew the river and the tree.
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