 Jeff Cable Photography
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Dear Friends of the Sanctuary,
Spring is in the air up north and we are heading into our ‘green’ season. The rains in the early afternoons have started and there seems to be less food in the forest. During the change of seasons is when there is less food than at any other time.
The macaws and the red-lored amazons fight over the sunflower seeds we put out to supplement their food through these sparse times. The frogs are back in full force during the night. And, I do believe it has begun to cool down.
The macaws and the red-lored amazons create quite a ruckus, but there is a lot of drama between the spider monkeys. Mr. Macho, who we assumed was Riley’s biological donator has been trying to ‘evict’ him from the troop. This is somewhat perplexing since the female leaves the natal troop when they are sexually mature.
The employees of the Sanctuary all think Rosie may have had an alliance with one of the rogue males since Riley is so blond, and Mr. Macho is so dark. We do see Rosie—from time to time—with them when the fig trees produce several crops a year. Randy, who is pictured below is very dark like Mr. Macho and is tolerated by him. Sometimes it is so hard to get any work done with all this excitement going on!
We are still making improvements through these trying times because of the help from our friends. Next, is the sloth cage, after that, the capuchins!
We have some pretty amazing stories below. Please know we continue to give the best care possible to every animal that pass through our doors. Our permanent residents continue to enjoy their lives with good nutrition, while all cages are well maintained and thoroughly enriched.
We hope to see everyone again as soon as your busy schedules allow. In the meantime, check in with us with any questions and a good book recommendation!
In friendship,
Carol A Patrick
President
Fundación Santuario Silvestre de Osa
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 Sharyn & Pito…
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By Sharyn Wolf, cub reporter and board member, who has been in isolation for one full year and unable to see the animals or my dream-dog, Pito.
My 90 year old mother, who lives alone and hundreds of miles from her children and grandchildren, went on her first safari, her first ever international trip yesterday. It came after a year’s isolation and a recent hospital stay. She was warmly greeted by Bullwinkle, a yellow-naped parrot, who asked her how she was and sang her a song. She was sure this was a trick and a ventriloquist was sitting in the background.
Was it safe for her to travel so far from her Florida home? Was it wise to bring her to the remote rainforest of Costa Rica? Absolutely, because she made the entire journey from her living room couch and was home for lunch, thanks to you, the donors, who brought WiFi to the sanctuary.
I introduced her to my old friend, Ms Ballew, a blue and gold macaw, and she was struck by the gorgeous red feathers of Ms B’s beleaguered and faithful husband, Paco, a Scarlett Macaw.
When Carol told her about Kinkers, the kinkajou, rescued from the pet trade, she began to understand the Sanctuary’s vital role in providing a lifetime home and care for those animals that cannot be released.
Mom has a permanent crush on Gus, the resident sloth, who left her speechless with his goo goo eyes and gentle soul. Sweetie, of course, made a number of Norma Desmond-like arrivals, descending the spiral vines—and just as many dramatic departures. After it was over, my mother wrote to say that she never dreamed she could take a vacation this way and have such an amazing experience.
If you find yourself missing the animals at the sanctuary or you know someone who, like my mother, is unlikely to make it here, or you just want your kids out of your hair for an hour, Sweetie Bear echoes Bob Barker as she says, “C’mon down.” Reach out to Carol at [email protected]. P.S. She’s working out a kink or two.
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Randy Will Celebrate His 1st Birthday May 15th!!!
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Rosie’s second addition to the troop, Randy was born last year May 15th. Rosie has been a very different mother than when she gave birth to her first born—Riley in October of 2017! This one she would pass off to anyone and everyone. Fortunately, there are other young for him to play with. Ripley’s first born, Rooney was two in April. The three of them have quite a rough-and-tumble time on the roof in the late afternoons.
It’s hard for Carol to get any work done when Rosie keeps an eye on Randy while he is practicing his monkey skills right outside her office. There is always some drama.
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Picadura was a member of the free flying flock of red-lored amazonas that had been rescued years ago and now live around the Sanctuary. With close to twenty of these little green parrots, he didn’t stand out until the day that he flew to Carol, showing her that his upper mandible had been crushed and was hanging on by a thread of skin!
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Dr. Tello, the veterinarian, arrived the following day and sadly told Carol that there was no way to save it. He removed it, and we fed Picadura through a syringe. It was touch and go for a few days because Picadura was in pain, scared, and he’d lost trust in us. After all, he was now stuck in a cage.
Finally, his hunger won out. He started eating from the syringe, and, of course, his health began improving. Then, to Carol’s surprise, he started calling out. She was amazed when his mate answered his call and landed right outside his cage. They chatted back and forth, and, eventually, the mate flew off. Picadura screamed for her to return, making Carol’s heart ache, but, then, she did return. She visited him twice a day, never missing a visit. And, twice a day, Carol felt sadness, hoping that the two birds understood why they were being forced to live apart from each other.
The decision was made to release Picadura as soon as his open wound healed. By that time, he was very well accustomed to eating with the syringe. The next time his mate came to visit, he was pumped full with a nutritious breakfast, and then, Carol released him letting him fly off with her.
Carol taught him his name during the time he was in the clinic, so that, after his release she could call him down from the wild to feed him. He showed up twice a day as if an alarm had been set.
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Then, out of nowhere, Picadura was a no-show. He began flying in only once every two or three days. He seemed to be enjoying good health, but Carol was concerned until, late one afternoon, Picadura was spotted with his mate in the small tree in front of Carol’s house.
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Everyone was stunned by what they saw; his mate was feeding him, carefully placing the food in his mouth as though he was one of her chicks!
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Picadura still drops in from time to time when he wants a special snack, and everyone’s heart soars when he flies off back into the wild, which is where he belongs. He looks good! He is at the perfect body weight, and his new feathers are a brilliant green!
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Some of you may remember the researcher from Australia who came to study dung beetles in late 2018.
He was back earlier this year, but in a different capacity. He was the Sanctuary photographer. He also worked with researchers from Osa Conservation that helped set up our camera traps.
He has Teo and baby Benito on his shoulders. We named the baby Benito because Ben and the baby eat copious amounts of food!
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The Foundation in Costa Rica, Fundación Santuario Silvestre de Osa held their annual meeting on the 23rd of March.
In attendance, starting from the left is Ingrid Molina Mora-the Sanctuary’s biologist, Carol A Patrick, Lic. Juan José Echeverria Brealey-Don Johnny, Sharyn Wolf, Ana Ligia Echeberria and Christy Shriner Richards.
Johnny has kept the Foundation on the straight and narrow with his sage & judicious guidance.
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Eleanor Flatt, the Wildlife Program Manager of Osa Conservation and Carol had planned to get together last April of 2020 after she had returned from the United States. That trip was never made and the cameras are still sitting in the US. Ben was kind enough to allow Carol to purchase four camera traps from Amazon in Australia to schlepp up to Costa Rica.
Eleanor was finally able to come over to the Sanctuary in late March with Carolina Pinto and Kassandra Navarro, two biologists that work on the wildlife program and the camera trap network at Osa Conservation.
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 From the left: Ben, Luis, Cassandra and Eleanor…
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Together with Ben and Luis, they set the four traps in very strategic areas. We have been so excited to see what is out there. Other than the normal, collared peccaries, agoutis, great curassows, white-nosed coatis, skunks, opossums and raccoons, we have caught within our lens a puma, a tayra, an ocelot with young, and a boat-billed heron to mention a few of the surprises!
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The female puma has been caught in two of the camera locations, each on different days, but the time is within minutes of each other. We know she’s a nocturnal huntress!
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The ocelot with the juvenile is also evidence of one of our release successes. An ocelot stays with their mother for approximately a year to learn what to hunt—rodents, iguanas, fish, and frogs.
By looking at the spots and comparing with others we have released, we know she was one of our releases. A release is considered successful when there is reproduction.
We are all so proud to see the many years of our of labor come to fruition!
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The Boat-billed heron is exciting because he is evidence of our success of the wetlands reclamation project! They are nonmigratory birds that tend to live in seasonal lagoons and estuaries, and nest in mangroves.
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We Get By With A Little Help From Our Friends…
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Christy (a board member) and her husband Gordon Richards have been very generous with the cornucopia of fruits from their farm.
Freddy Sanchez Sanchez, their right hand man is always so happy and proud to pick the best bunches of bananas, pineapples and mangos getting such a delight out of knowing all the animals at the Sanctuary will be feasting from his labors.
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From This In Dec. To This In May — High Fliers!
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These boys and girls are ready to go out the door—they are ready to fledge! We have put them into the flight cage to strengthen those wing and chest muscles, and giving them time to get to know the free flying flock.
Soon, we will open the door to toss them to the wind. They will scream and carry on for a few days, but the three of them will stay together and they will join the free flying flock and enjoy the life of being other “high fliers” around the Sanctuary!!!
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Look!!! Tito Got All Of His Hair Back!!!
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Osa Wildlife T-shirts and Caps Coming Soon!
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Our new t-shirts and hats have been made! I am just days away from putting the offers on PayPal for ease of purchase. We have another logo for the t-shirts and hats and we hope you will like it!
Each purchase will help feed and house the wildlife here at the Sanctuary.
Keep an eye out for the purchase offer coming soon!
Our original logo at the top of this newsletter will still be the official logo for documentation in Costa Rica. We all love that logo, but it is just too expensive for printing.
Soon, we will be offering tours through Amazon.
These live virtual tours for our friends of the Sanctuary are tailored to which animals you want to visit, and its a private tour—just for you and other ZOOM mates of your choice. Sweetie is a real ham in front of the camera!
We think it is a great gift idea and it’s better than a clown at a child’s birthday party!
Sharyn suggested earlier to contact Carol at [email protected]. We think we have all the kinks and glitches worked out and we’re ready to give tours!
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We Can Never Say “Thank You” Enough…
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Everything we do at the Sanctuary is because of kind hearted people such as yourselves—we can’t do it without you. Please always keep us in mind when it comes time to “give a little bit”.
We thank you for your continued confidence in us—we carry on during these hard times showing our appreciation through continuing to improve every facet of the Sanctuary saving and caring for the wildlife. We have never had to say no to an animal in need and continue with great expense to rescue all that requires our expertise and loving care.
Appreciation is always extended to those that give throughout the year. Because of your help we are able to give wildlife a second chance and giving those less fortunate the best care possible. Thank you!
You can always press the PayPal button below for a quick donation. Any amount is deeply appreciated, they all add up to goodness.
Or you can write a check today made payable to Osa Wildlife Sanctuary and send to P.O. Box 171, Greenwood, IN 46142-0171.
Keep sending those good thoughts. It’s rather lonely down here not being able to see our friends.
THANK YOU AGAIN!
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Who Would Have Ever Thought Sweetie Would Be A Surrogate Mother To An Infant Titi Monkey?
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