Excuse me sir, you have some banana on your face (or, The Animals of Sacha Yacu)
Oh, hey. I didn’t see you there. I was just casually standing here in the jungle playing with some animals. “Which animals?” you ask. Let me take you around and make some introductions.
First, say “Hola” to our many birds. If you’re lucky, they just may say “Hola” back to you. Most of these guys are essentially different sized parrots called Pericos. They aren’t too bad overall, as many of them are going blind due to a genetic defect. There is one cage, however, which also contains two large Mackaws, that the girls are afraid to enter, because the birds that inhabit it are fairly aggressive and have a pension for attacking the ladies. We also have an Ecuadorian turkey (a pava here in Ecuador) who I think is funny, but can get a little hangry. (This is the state of anger that some people attain when they get hungry.)
Let’s move on to some other animals. Up next we have the Coatis. These guys are interesting, though not my favourite. They are a part of the raccoon family, but are extremely aggressive. Their speciality is going for the jugular, so we put them in a trap cage when we have to go in a clean their cage. I think the most interesting thing I’ve seen with these guys is the day we fed them a tarantula that we had found (that’s a different story for a different time). They went nuts when they realized it was around, and went on a wild chase. They finally managed to catch it, and they kill it then rub it furiously against the ground to try to remove the hairs before they eat it.
With that image in mind, let’s head on over to the Kinkajous. These guys may look a little like ferrets, but they’re actually more closely related to the coatis and raccoons. We actually have two different cages of kinkajous. We have two together who are pretty aggressive, and can bite nice and hard. These two have a trap cage so we can go in and clean. Then we have a newer kinkajou who is extremely sweet and curious. They are nocturnal animals, so we go to feed them at night (hence the blurry photo). When you go into this guy’s cage, he likes to climb all over you and sniff and give kisses. It actually tickles quite a bit, at least for my ticklish self.
Next on the tour is the Tyra. I actually know very little about her because she kind of freaks me out. I know that she has become more aggressive as she’s gotten older, and she likes to chew her way out of the trap cage when we’re cleaning, but more because she’s curious than vindictive. I know she really love papaya, and I like to think that when we’re not around, she hosts a TV talk show for all the other animals, and gives away bedazzled Vaseline (if you don’t know to what I’m referring, look it up on YouTube. It will change your life).
Let us not forget about the Pecaries. These guys are a mix between boar and porcupine, and eat literally anything. They are big, mean, and scary (except the baby who is pretty cute), but they’re pretty low maintenance, and a great way to not waste rotten food. They sometimes escape and head straight towards the compost pile, but eventually return to their cage where they know they will be fed. It’s quite scary when they escape, so when it happens we all tend to move in pairs. I’m not exactly sure what we think that will do to help, but at least you only need to run faster than one other person.
The next animal is probably one of the coolest at he centre. This is the Ocelot. We have two of them, one who is more aggressive than the other, but both are nocturnal, and so they also get fed at night. These guys are the only animals that we give fresh meat, so their cages tend to smell pretty rank. If you’re still wondering what an ocelot is, it’s also known as a dwarf leopard. If you catch them in a good mood, they like to rub against the cage so you can scratch them. The ocelots are probably the most beautiful animal at the centre, and also the softest.
Though these other animals may not be the coolest, I like them best. One of these animals are the turtles. Most people don’t really like to feed the turtles because they are really slow, but I personally think it is a hoot.The reason they are frustratingly slow (other than because they are turtles) is that they have to be hand fed so the wild monkeys don’t steal their food, and there are 26 of them. You can imagine how time consuming this can be. And as I learnt quickly my first time feeding them, if you feed more than one at once, watch them carefully. They bite. Hard. My first thought was “How do you know if you’ve fed them all?” Turns out the answer was self explanatory,and led me to give them the nickname banana face. Turtles, as it turns out, love bananas and papaya. They also seem to love getting banana all over their faces. They never fail to make me laugh like that.
And last but not least, the monkeys. Sacha Yacu has many monkeys, and they each have individual personalities. The majority of the monkeys are Capuchin monkeys. These guys can be unpredictable and change their mood on a dime, so it’s important to always be vigilant around them. That being said, I like most of them. Let it also be known that these guys are incredibly intelligent, and really really love to eat grasshoppers.
We have several cages of monkeys. In one cage, there are three calm and friendly monkeys. They are the newest monkeys in the centre, and are not quite named yet. One of them earned her name when she escaped four times in one day. The name Houdini has now stuck. The other two are sometimes called George and Luis, but that is in constant flux. Houdini likes to groom people’s nails, but usually just ends up making your hands messier.
It’s down the hill that we have the monkeys with the most personality. The first cage you reach is that of Lorenza, Elvis, and Little Fucker. Elvis and Little have the strongest personalities in this cage. Elvis is highly jealous and she hates girls, especially blondes, and she goes even crazier the closer a boy comes toward you. She throws whatever she can find, and sometimes searches out larger sticks and rocks to try and throw. Little F*ucker really earns his name. He is really the one you most need to look out for. He’ll go from loving you one minute, to despising you the next. That being said, he really loves me. Every time I get near the cage, he runs directly to me and puts his arm out of the cage so he can hold my hand. It’s very sweet, and then he gets distracted and leaves.
The next cage is Fred and Sam. These guys are extremely aggressive, as they were both abused before they got to the centre. We have a separate trap cage for each of them so we can go in and clean their cage. With that in mind, the most amazing thing happened. Sam started to like me, and even assigned himself as my protector from everyone who came near me. When I get near the cage, he calms down and puts himself against the cage where I am so I can pet him. As people come near me, he hisses at them until they back off. He also won’t take a swipe at anyone if I’m nearby because he’s afraid of hurting me. It’s amazing that sometimes monkeys choose people to like, just like humans but without our restrictive societal rules.
The next two cages I don’t really go in because these guys like to steal glasses. The first cage is Ninja and Ginger, and the second is Grumpy and Naughty. Grumpy is the most interesting of the four, because he likes to cuddle when you sit and feed him, but the he likes to play, and Grumpy plays hard. His name is pretty fitting, seeing as how even when he’s happy, he looks like he’s angry about everything.
Then we have Amelia. She’s on her own recovering from a surgery. She got attacked by dogs a little while ago, and had to have surgery, but she getting better now. She’s pretty sweet and loves to groom your hands. She’s pretty afraid of men she doesn’t know, but she loves girls, and likes to have her belly scratched, like a puppy.
The last monkey is my absolute favourite. I really wanted to take her with me, but so did everyone else. Her name is Zonga Zonga and she’s a titi monkey. She’s essentially just a really sweet ball of fur who likes to sit on your shoulder and sing along with you. I don’t think it’s possible to meet her and not fall deeply in love.
Other than the animals they take care of, the centre also has some animals as pets. They have four dogs: Cookie (who had puppies a little ago), Lusa (the most adorable dog, and likes to sit under your hammock), Puppy (she was pregnant and getting planet sized. She just had 7 puppies), and Blanca (also pregnant, and with a fantastic underbite). There’s also a cat who doesn’t like to leave a lap open, two chickens (one of whom sleeps in the doorway of the girls’ room), two chicks who are just learning to do things, and two horses. Apart from that, there are a lot of wild monkeys that hang around, and many many insects and spiders.
Finally, there’s Jeremy. Though he’s actually a three year old human, he’s more monkey/animal than anything else. He will hit anything he can, pick up and throw anything he can, and climb anything he can. You almost have to see it to really believe it.
So that is it. Those are the wonderful animals of Sacha Yacu (at least the animals that were there when I was there). I’m sure more will come in the future, and hopefully they will be able to release some more, but in the meantime these animals will continue to lead a wonderful life surrounded by people who care deeply for them.
