A partner facility, Jaguar Rescue Center in Playa Chiquita, Costa Rica, has been introducing their rehab howler monkeys to a wild troop for two months.

Over 6000 miles and an entire ocean away from Barcelona Zoo where Encar Vila formerly kept gorillas and other primates, she gently sits down on a blanket covering the thick Costa Rica grass. Suddently she is mauled by 6 little black howler monkeys (Alouatta caraya). Instead of fear and worrying about getting bit and scratched, Encar starts smiling and you can see the love and affection in her eyes for the babies she has saved from pet shops, cars, mothers that rejected their young and hunters. She isn’t getting attacked, it’s break time, and break time means a bottle of milk and snacks for the wiley little bunch.
Encar is the wife of Sandro Garcia and together they run the Jaguar Rehab Center, a small mammal rehabilitation center and serpentarium. Only a few meters from the Caribbean Sea, and on the fringe of La Amistad Conservation Area (A UNESCO World-Heritage Site), Sandro and Encar have taken advantage of the natural surroundings to create a wonderful facility.
Encar says she has been coming out to this tree for the last two months with the babies, but it took around 3-4 weeks for the wild troop of 20 or so monkeys to start interacting. She has been gently easing the wild monkeys into socializing with the babies, and says at the two month mark, they pretty much have accepted the babies and even seem to be accepting her. “When I first started coming out here, they were very scared of us. Now when I come out, just me and the babies, the wild monkeys are coming down to check me out.” Encar says this as Conga, one of her oldest rehab babies climbs over her neck and face kissing, licking, and play biting her.
Reintroductions are a long and arduous process, involving up to four hours of “wild time” per day for the little monkeys.
Coming from zoo backgrounds, Encar and Sandro both understand the need to educate the public as well, and invite visitors to stop by their facility on the Caribbean Coast. It is recommended to call ahead to schedule a tour, as they try to keep the numbers of visitors down to ensure less stress on the animals, and a more intimate encounter for the visitors.
Encar is not sure how much longer it will take for the first of these babies to head off for their first night with their new troop, but she knows it will be a bittersweet day. In fact, it has already happened once. She has one female that was accepted into the troop last year.

As a project participant, you can take part in many of our activities with Jaguar Rescue Center, including:

• White paper on reintroductions of Black Howler Monkeys in the Caribbean Lowlands of Costa Rica
• Digitizing and updating of records for captive husbandry data and reintroduction information
• Zoo design grant program
• Reptile and amphibian captive husbandry research

If your interested in taking part in this project while in Costa Rica, or if you want us to help our travel professionals help you customize a trip around our project, please click here.
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