Thursday, October 12, 2007: This is a continuation of my previous post on the butterfly farm. The Butterfly Farm also was a Animal orphanage/sanctuary for animals that were taken out of there natural habitat and sold as pets or attractions in Iquitos and surrounding area. Therefore, they had rescued a Jaguar from the Belen neighborhood of Iquitos, which is also known for it floating food markets and floating amazon homes.
It was feeding time when we got to see Pedro, the jaguar. He was truly a beautiful animal and sad to think he was living in Belen. They couldn't release the jaguar back into the Amazon because they didn't know if it could survive anymore. The guide told us they did release live chickens and other small animals so Pedro would not lose his hunting techniques.
The "Sachavaca" or what we call a Tapir. I was told that Sachavaca means "fake cow", sacha meaning fake and vaca meaning cow. What my cousin told me was that people tried to eat the Sachavaca but the meat was too tough and its black meat stains human skin. I don't know if that was true but people do not eat the "fake cow".
Two of the eight rescued monkeys, these are beautiful Howler Monkeys. The guide told us they sang when they were happy and boy did they sing. I loved hearing their howls....I recorded them but the video came out blurry.
It was feeding time when we got to see Pedro, the jaguar. He was truly a beautiful animal and sad to think he was living in Belen. They couldn't release the jaguar back into the Amazon because they didn't know if it could survive anymore. The guide told us they did release live chickens and other small animals so Pedro would not lose his hunting techniques.
The Anteater was so much bigger than I had pictured it in my head, so I was a little bit scared. It's not pictured but the anteater was drinking milk.
The "Sachavaca" or what we call a Tapir. I was told that Sachavaca means "fake cow", sacha meaning fake and vaca meaning cow. What my cousin told me was that people tried to eat the Sachavaca but the meat was too tough and its black meat stains human skin. I don't know if that was true but people do not eat the "fake cow".
Two of the eight rescued monkeys, these are beautiful Howler Monkeys. The guide told us they sang when they were happy and boy did they sing. I loved hearing their howls....I recorded them but the video came out blurry.
They were very LOUD! Louder than they sound in the video.
"El Huapo Colorado" was this monkey's nickname. It's called the Red Bald Uacari monkey and apparently the locals called white males with bald or shaved heads (like my husband Jesse) "El Huapo Colorado" because their bald heads would turn read from all the sun.
I absolutely loved Pilpintuwasi. The only "bad" thing about it was that we were in the real jungle so it was even hotter than regular Iquitos. We never stopped sweating, I was completely drenched in sweat and Jesse looked like he had taken a bath with his clothes on. Was definitely worth almost getting dehydrated to visit Pilpintuwasi. If you want more information you can find them on the web at http://www.amazonanimalorphanage.org
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