Amazon Animal Orphanage & Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm

Our many eMails and comments from supporters are now on this blog; here is a place to easily hear from you. As there is time, we will move earlier news to these pages throughout the year; in the meantime, you can find news from 2004 through 2010 by clicking this link.

Please visit us in Iquitos! Iquitos is situated near the confluence of the Nanay and Amazon rivers. Our butterfly farm and Animal Orphanage are on the banks of the Nanay River.

IMPORTANT: More and more tourists think they are helping exotic animals by buying them from a random person on the street who claims to have “found it abandoned in the jungle.” While tourists mean well, purchasing such an animal anywhere in the world exacerbates the problem by creating a black market.

No animals leave offspring before they are able to survive on their own. Every animal being sold on the street is there because its parent was killed, perhaps by the person trying to sell it! And every animal being sold on the street is in ill health.

Should you purchase such an animal, albeit well-meaning, you are actually giving the seller a reason to kill another parent in order to sell its offspring, and you are putting yourself in jeopardy because the purchase of an exotic creature is illegal in all countries.

If the animals are lucky, they are brought to a center such as the Amazon Animal Orphanage. But that will not stop the problem. Only you can help stop this problem. Do not buy animals from street vendors. Report them to local authorities.

Please, before visiting open habitats, read National Geographic or watch Animal Planet, both of which caution against purchasing exotic creatures and both of which provide information about the illegality of purchasing exotic animals.

To Visit

Address: Padre Cocha Iquitos, Peru 22640

Phone: 063-23-2665

Calling all potential volunteers

Pilpintuwasi is in desperate need of volunteers.

One of our residents with our volunteer

If anyone has a passion for wildlife and can volunteer to come and help us at this crucial time during the month of April starting immediately, please email the volunteer coordinator:  jennagriffiths22@hotmail.com with a little about yourself, including Spanish-speaking skills, volunteer experience and travel background (where you have travelled and how often).

We are in desperate need of your assistance; please do not worry if you think you might not have the right type of skills.

Mainly, we just need hard working people.

Thank you.

Jenna

From Gudrun:

Princesa, one of our red Uakaris, has a baby!!!

We knew that she was pregnant but didn´t tell anybody as it’s extremely rare that the Uakaris have offspring outside their natural habitat; I was quite worried wondering if Princesa would know what to do during, and especially after birth.

Her mother was killed when she was a baby, she has never seen another female having a baby, nursing and carrying it. . . maybe she would want to get rid of that creature that gave her so much pain…those were my thoughts. Besides, nobody knew when the baby would be born.

Scientists say that red Uakaris have their babies during the months of August to October; Princesa already had a real big belly in October, so we waited every day… and her belly got bigger and bigger.

Finally on November 23, at 6 a.m., she came down from a tree, and within ten minutes the baby was born.

She bit through the umbilical cord, and then, as the other monkeys were curiously coming near, she jumped on Gudrun’s back wanting to be carried away.

That day and the day after giving birth, Mother and baby stayed inside.

The first image was taken just after birth. Princesa still seemed to be wondering what happened. (Others will show baby and mother 6, 10 and 15 days after birth.)

Princesa and Baby Uakari.
c. 2012. All Rights Reserved.

On the third day, Princesa was out and up in the canopy, never letting anybody, neither human nor animal see her baby. She´s a very good and protective mummy. The baby, whose gender we don´t know yet, is always clinging to the mother — not riding on her back but holding on very tightly around her waist, even upside down!

IMPORTANT: Please note that these rare photos by Gudrun Sperrer at Pilpintuwasi are copyrighted. We are establishing a system for anyone who wishes to purchase a copy for personal use, and a separate system for publishing use. There are few (if any) pictures of newborn Uakaris in the world. Protecting these images is important to the support of our work with endangered species and rescuing threatened animals. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

If you have interest in covering this unique birth and the story of the Amazon Animal Orphanage, please contact Gudrun at pilpintuwasi@yahoo.es or Dianne@MarineStudios.com. Thank you.

As there is very little known about red Uakaris, in addition to the images, we are compiling a publication regarding changes in the little one; this will help determine the age of rescued Uakaris and help achieve our goal of protecting rare wildlife.

Endangered Animals

Red Uakaris are threatened by habitat destruction and hunting. They are hunted in Peru and Brazil for their meat or to be used as bait. The species is protected in Peru, but there are very few measures actually in place to preserve the species. Chavo and Lora (below) have been at Pilpintuwasi since about 2008. This photo is exceptional as it is a perfect illustration of how dramatically disparate creatures can live in peace, which seems to be something too many people have not yet learned.

Uakaris prefer swampy or flooded tropical forests that are found along small rivers and lakes for their habitat. They are very intelligent and form large social groups of up to 100 individuals. When foraging, they prefer to split up into smaller groups of up to ten. They are active only in the day and at night climb high into the trees to sleep. Uakaris are herbivorous and feed on seeds, grain, ripe fruits, leaves, nectar, and insects. Mating occurs between October and May, and it is not known how long the gestation period lasts. Females give birth to one young every two years, and the young are nursed for three to five months.

Two other quick updates for everyone:

A few weeks ago, we had a scary incident at Pilpintuwasi- Lisa, one of our juvenile female red uakari monkeys broke her ankle. She was taken to the vet in Iquitos, and x-rays confirmed the break.

Lisa showing off her pins

In some cases, this could heal on its own with rest, but Lisa had a fracture just above her ankle and the bone was threatening to break the skin.

Dr. Miguel, our trusted veterinarian, was able to fix the break with 3 small pins, and Lisa fared very well through the surgery. She has the pins in for 3 weeks, and then will be undergoing physical therapy exercises to regain full use of her toes.

These events have not lowered Lisa`s spirits in the slightest, and she has showed great strength and bravery throughout this scary time for her. Lisa was, as far as I know, the smallest uakari to arrive at Pilpintuwasi at only a few hundred grams.

Lisa upon arrival at Pilpintuwasi
more than a year ago

Used to special attention as the baby of the bunch, she is relishing in the extra attention she has been getting due to her injury.

In other news, I also have to announce my departure from Padre Cocha. After a year in Iquitos, I am taking a break to head home and visit my family and figure out what the future holds. I will be doing what I can for Pilpintuwasi in the meantime, but we may not have such regular blog updates for a little while. Please be patient with us!

Hello everyone,

I have a few updates for all of you on this first day of December.

Pedro!

First, Gudrun and the Pilpintuwasi staff would like to recognize the very generous continuing support of the anonymous sponsor of Pedro Bello, our resident jaguar.

This special supporter of Pilpintuwasi has once again gifted Pedro with a year of food and maintenance. The support of our anonymous donor is greatly appreciated – with a daily diet consisting of 4 kilograms of meat, plus cage repairs and other costs, Pedro is our most costly animal, and the support of our donor allows us to provide him with the best care possible. Thank you!

Our handsome Pedro is now eight and a half years old, and is as beautiful and aloof as ever.

Pedro Bello

Jaguars, Panthera onca, are the largest felines in the Americas, and the third largest big cats in the world. They are found throughout Central and South America, though in small numbers- they are listed as Near Threatened on the CITES index, mostly due to hunting and fragmentation of their habitat.

A fearsome stalk and ambush predator, jaguars hunt anything from tapirs to rodents to fish. They have extremely powerful jaws that allow them to actually bite through the skull of their prey.

Jaguars are solitary, reclusive animals, and our Pedro is a good example of this. Despite being raised in captivity, he prefers to be left alone.

Pedro at his swimming pool

We do our best to keep Pedro as undisturbed as possible by giving him a large enclosure complete with swimming pool – another donation given by his generous caretaker, and allowing him his privacy.

Pedro is well looked after, but if anyone is interested in sponsoring any of our other animals you have read about, please contact us in the comments section, or by sending an email to pilpintuwasi@hotmail.com

All of our land dwelling creatures have now been featured on the blog, so I thought it was time to take a quick look below the water and shine the spotlight on our (mostly) underwater dwelling living in the lake at Pilpintuwasi and the very odd pairing they have formed.

Our pool is home to many a creature: varied species of Amazon fish, many turtles, caimans, and a manatee. These are all elusive creatures, and only very patient or lucky visitors get a good look at these guys.

First up, the Amazonian Manatee (Trichechus inunguis).

Marbino the Manatee.

Ours is an adult male called Marbino, who has been lazing around our lake for the last 5 years. He has grown to about 2.5m in size and weighs a couple hundred kilograms. Marbino is extremely shy, but can sometimes be spotted extending his snout out of the water to breathe, or chowing down on the floating river plants we bring up from the river daily.

Manatees, sometimes called sea cows, are more well known in their marine form, but also make their home in the rivers of the Amazon basin. They are shy vegetarians, cruising the slow moving waters and lakes for the abundant water lettuce, hyacinths and other floating plants. This makes them important in the river ecosystem, and they keep rivers from getting clogged up by these plants. Amazonian manatees are currently in danger of extinction, thanks mostly to hunting, and are classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN.

We also have 2, possibly 3, spectacled caimans (Caiman crocodilus) dwelling in the lake as well. These are wild residents of Pilpintuwasi- they crawled in during high water season and due to the safety and abundance of fish in our pond, have decided to stick around. As long as they leave our monkeys in peace, we are happy to give them a safe place to hang out.

Spectacled caimans are small in size, only growing to about 2m in length. They live through Central and tropical South America where they act as oppurtunistic predators, eating everything from fish and mammals to insects and molluscs. They are not commercially valuable in the leather trade, though locally they are hunted for meat.

Our caimans and manatee have struck up a very special friendship. Sitting quietly by the lake, one might spot the nostrils of the caiman floating. Then, a mass of bubbles will appear around him, and the caiman will appear to be rising and falling – lifted out of the water. A moment more and the fins of the manatee will appear on either side of the caiman’s body; the manatee has actually swum underneath the caiman, placed himself belly to belly and seems to play a game with his friend.

I have heard stories of this pairing since I arrived at Pilpintuwasi, but only observed it for myself last week with the volunteers. Gudrun has some photo evidence for the skeptic. Gart, the owner of San Pedro Lodge, was able to snap a few shots of the couple.