news
updates
Gudrun writes several times a year to update everyone on the progress of the animals, visitors, fundraising, etc. Please check back from time to time to catch up with the latest from The Amazon Animal Orphanage and Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm.
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 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.
index
August 2010: New babies. Toni goes to "jail" and takes care of the other "inmates." And another way to donate. Please help the Amazon Animal Orphanage. Those of you who have been following the work of Gudrun know that this was a non-voluntarily rescue mission and she has been taking care of otherwise endangered animals for several years with minimal support.
February 2010: Wait until you see the photo of the baby ocelot! And, very good news. The Amazon Cares NGO has set up a means to donate to The Amazon Animal Orphanage and Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm! With the new little ocelot, Gudrun will need our help more than ever!
August 2009: More catch-up news including an update on Chavo, the oldest and first red Uacary to make its home at the Orphanage.
July 2009: Lots of news to catch up and introduce the baby sloths, an owl monkey, all shown in our new slide-show format.
July 2008: LOTS of new photos of the new rescues, including a tiny baby howler monkey being held by Gudrun.
January to June 2008: So much news to catch up with . . . our Web Designer has been on leave for a few months, but is now back and updating the site with lots of new photos of the wonderful animals. . .
October, 2007: Another helpful visit from Girls on Top, who first visited with us in 2005, then again in 2006. Each time they visit, they bring new ideas that help keep the Orphanage and Pilpintuwasi going.
2007: The monkeys are being mischevious; they've learned how to get into the butterfly cage. . .
July to December 2006: A rescued baby tapir was adopted by Lolita! Excellent donations came in again. A boa constrictor was trying to eat one of the Agoutys.
April to June 2006: The fence is completed. Meet Argus, the howler monkey, and Junior, a capuchin. Little Pauly, who was weak when she arrived, is doing very well and is wandering around the trees.
September to December 2005: Wait until you see who styles Gudrun's hair. She may be the only person in the world with a stylist of this caliber. And the "Girls on Top" from Australia visited.
July and August 2005: Meet the new little manatee and Angelica, a cuddly baby sloth.
January to June 2005: Another newcomer! An young anteater who was rescued when Yagua Indians killed her mother. She rides around on Gudrun!
2004: The Amazon Animal Orphanage and Pilpintuwasi started in 2003, but our Web started in 2004 when a visitor from California told his sister . . . a Web designer . . . about our project. We have been online since then . . .