- This documentary originally aired in Selva Viva - a show on national tv in Ecuador that focuses on Amazon culture and nature. Documentary made by Jorge Amador Lopez and crew -
Kichwa lessons: Alli puncha means Good morning
Alli tuta means Good night
Alli chishi means Good afternoon
Imashina tawnki means How are you?
Merazonia is a Non Profit Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre
for abused Amazon animals and victims of the illegal traffic.
My colleague Rafaela Guevarra visited this centre located in Mera, province of Pastaza, Ecuador.
Merazonia is a Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre
The centre was created in 2004.
Because it was created in the midst of the jungle
construction took a long time and we were able to receive our first animal in 2009.
We try to focus on animals, native to this region.
Currently we house five species of primates,
various species of parrots,
we have kinkajous and at this moment two felines.
Ninety percent of the animals are brought to us
by the Ministry of Environment after they confiscated them.
The main problem with a lot of these animals is
that they were held in captivity,
which causes behavioral problems
because they are used to people.
This complicates their rehabilitation more than anything else.
Because they are used to people
or they have lost their instincts to hunt,
gather food or recognize danger.
Roughly we manage to rehabilitate and set free about 20 percent of the animals.
But with the majority of the animals it proves
to be very difficult.
Normally we can pick one of two animals
or species at a time
to start a rehabilitation project with.
Right now, we don't have the resources
nor enough people to run various projects simultaneously.
We have released various solitary animals such as
sloths, armadillos, ocelots, a neotropical otter.
Regarding gregarious animals up till now we had success with tamarin monkeys.
Currently we are working towards a woolly monkey rehabilitation and release project.
We work with volunteers and normally there are between 8 to 11 volunteers at a time,
that help us with the daily work such as feeding the animals and cleaning their enclosures.
For me to live in the jungle and work with animals
is the best life possible.
I started volunteering myself in various places.
And I like I said, living in the jungle is the best, helping animals.
Although frustrating at times too because
for every animal we help, three new ones arrive.
Animals are much happier in their natural environment,
surrounded by their own species.
They don't belong in houses.
Especially when they grow up they cause problems
They start to bite and can become a danger for members of a family.
We have a resident veterinarian
and a person, specialized in animal behaviour.
Capuchin monkeys are the most
intelligent primates in Latin America
which complicates their rehabilitation.
They can be very aggressive towards each other
especially towards a newly introduced individual,
as well as towards humans.
Especially with them we avoid contact.
The enclosure is divided in different interconnected compartments.
so that we can clean and feed them safely as well as introduce new monkeys with less risk.
Currently we have no projects in place
for parrot rehabilitation,
mainly due to their behaviour.
Many already talk and we don't want to set free animals that will teach the entire Amazon
to say `Hi there pretty!´
Also the majority does not recognize danger
they sit on the ground, have no fear for predators.
This complicates parrot rehab.
They are already too attached to humans.
What you see here are the limits
of what I can show you.
Further in the jungle, we have housed the animals
in their final stages of rehabilitation.
These animals have a minimum of human contact.
If the rehab process goes well, and their behaviour shows they are sufficiently wild, we can continue with their release.
 - Trap camera footage of wildlife on Merazonia premises -
Wildlife rehabilitation proves to be very complicated,
since many of these animals have lived in captivity.
Nonetheless, Merazonia works towards rescuing these animals and their possible release.
- Selva Viva, 2014 -
