Kids Saving the Rainforest – April 2023
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Kids Saving the Rainforest – February 2023
Kids Saving The Rainforest, is the only registered wildlife rescue center and Sanctuary in the area of Manuel Antonio. Therefore it has the very important mission of saving all the wild animals in need in the area. We help all kinds of wildlife—from sloths, monkeys and anteaters to macaws and toucans. Every animal that needs help will get it in our wildlife hospital.
The main reasons why these animals arrive to our Rescue Center is because of electrocutions, collisions with cars or windows, parasites, and dog and cat attacks. But even though we have a wildlife ambulance we can’t be everywhere, and we depend highly on the kindness of some human beings that take the time to help these animals in need and call us to inform about animals that needs to be rescued.
Would you like to be part of our rescue team? Here is a fast guide on how to know if an animal really needs help.
In the case of baby animals, it can get a bit tricky as it is difficult to know if these animals are really in need of help or just getting their first steps into the wild. That’s why we created a different guide exclusive for babies, but we always advise people that if they aren’t sure they can always contact us on our WhatsApp: +506 8568 5335
Do you know what happens to these animals once they reach our rescue center?
Kids Saving the Rainforest – September/October 2022
It’s Dani, your KSTR spokeskid! I just got done spending several weeks in Manuel Antonio volunteering at KSTR, and I have a TON of exciting updates to share!
First, a huge thanks to everyone who came to Monkey Jam. We had 250+ attendees (the biggest party), lots of fantastic, home-cooked Costa Rican food, and great bands and music. It was nice to see the community connect, all the new improvements to the sanctuary, and have everyone meet the animals. I heard interesting discussions about recycling programs, new hotel owners learning about the services KSTR offers (from an injured sloth to a snake on the loose!)—and lots of amazing stories about the animals KSTR has saved 🙂 Someone shared such a great story about sponsoring a wildlife bridge on their street and how it made them feel happy every time they saw monkeys crossing. Even a kinkajou family is using it to safely make it across the road with their baby.
Second, KSTR has formally changed hands to two incredible conservationists, who are excited to usher in a new era for the organization. I spent a lot of time with Gabe, one of the new owners, who has an amazing vision for increasing the reach and impact of KSTR. He wants to focus on building a new, state-of-the art animal hospital, more marine wildlife rescues, and MORE KIDS! We’re going to be adding additional spokeskids (who you’ll be hearing from here in the future), and raising money for more exciting projects to rescue more animals. Luckily, the old owners are still involved at KSTR and helping out with the transition—I love them so much so I am glad we can continue to work together to help the amazing animals in Costa Rica!
Kids Saving the Rainforest – August 2022
Hi Quepolandia Readers! It’s Dani, your spokeskid for KSTR, back again for another article!
I’m back in Manuel Antonio for the summer, and I am volunteering at Kids Saving the Rainforest. Today I am going to tell you about our Nursery and Rehab Center.
In the Nursery, we have several different baby animals. We have 4 baby racoons, 6 baby opossums, 2 mice, and a lot of birds! All the animals in the nursery are super gentle, loving and adorable—and they each get their own special care routine. The raccoons need to be bathed 3 times a week, to keep them clean and healthy—and they get special food like a smoothie, made just for them! The smoothie has carrots, papaya, and banana. Sounds good, right? We also feed them fruit salad, containing watermelon, papaya, banana, potato and other fruits and veggies.
In the rehab center, we have 3 baby squirrel monkeys who lost their mom, and we’re going to release them soon! We keep them separate from the other animals, so they have minimal contact with humans. We have a baby Capuchin monkey, named Afronzito, who lost his tail from a shock from a power line. He’s healing now, but we probably won’t be able to release him—because he’ll have a really tough time in the wild without a tail. He’s really skittish—so we want to get him more used to the volunteers, so we can care for him. We also have 4 baby macaws, who lived in the Gaia preserve, but they were abandoned by their mother, so we’re taking care of them at the sanctuary until they are old and strong enough to be released at the Gaia again!
All the animals in the nursery, rehab center, and in the sanctuary, get enrichments to keep them busy, and to keep their wild instinct. On Friday, we made a climbing course for a baby racoon out of bamboo and rope! The mice got enrichments too—we stuffed a piece of bamboo with peanut butter, raisins, and honey, and then closed the ends off with cardboard so they can work for their treats! For Afronzito we stuffed a Kong with raisins and peanut butter, and froze it—so he has to use his tongue to break into the raisins…his favorite part!
Any donations you can make at kstr.org will help us take care of the babies—can’t wait to share another update with you—thanks, and Pura Vida!
KSTR – July 2022
Hi everyone, it’s me, Dani, your KSTR Spokeskid! This week, I am excited to introduce you to Tyler Smith, an awesome kid who recently volunteered at KSTR with his family. He’s going to tell you about his experience as a volunteer! I’ll be back with an article next month. Enjoy this one from Tyler for now!
Hello! I am Tyler. I am eleven years old, and I recently visited KSTR. I had an amazing time! I thought you might like to know more about this great place and what you can experience as a KSTR volunteer.
My family lives quite far away, so we began our journey by checking into the Blue Banyan Inn, a property directly on the KSTR reserve. From the beginning, I felt very close to nature. There were frogs on my path, and I had to step over a huge trail of leaf cutter ants to get to our cottage. I later learned that these ants were traveling over a mile from their nest to cut mango leaves off a tree near my room. That night, I could hear iguanas on the roof, moving and crawling around.
Animal kitchen
On my first full day there, I went on a tour of the reserve. I learned that the inn got its name from a Blue Banyan Tree right on the grounds. I also saw a tree called the Ylang Ylang tree, jokingly dubbed “The Perfume Tree”, as it grew the flower that made Chanel Number 5 Perfume.
I enjoyed meeting the KSTR staff and the animals they help. I heard each animal’s story and discovered each animal’s personality. Don Pedro the Curassow was very feisty, nibbling at our feet and strutting around. Fozzie the sloth seemed lazy at first, but then tried to impress us by crawling upside down. Darwin the spider monkey was crazy. He would make loud noises, and I heard he once peed on a staff member! It was interesting to learn how the animals got there and how they were helped by the KSTR community.
KSTR – May/June 2022
Hi Quepolandia – belated happy easter! It’s Dani, your spokeskid 🙂
Today I want to tell you about a new owl we received, named “Chill.” I’m also going to tell you about an animal in our sanctuary called Grandma Bella! And lastly, I want to give you an update about the nursery, and our intern position!
Chill is a Ferruginous pygmy owl. He’s a child (juvenile), and he fell out of his nest. Luckily he isn’t hurt but he can’t fly yet because he’s too young—so we’ll keep him safe until he can be released soon. Chill is tiny. This species of owl usually only grows to be 15 cm tall! He’s able to eat by himself, but we feed him twice a day to make sure he gets enough food. There’s a Pygmy owl that hangs out on the road to our house in Manuel Antonio, and at night, he flies away right as the car gets close to him in the headlights—and every time he does, it makes my heart jump! I’m glad that Chill isn’t hurt, and I’m happy to see that KSTR is there to keep him safe—and make sure he doesn’t get himself into trouble ;-)—until he’s big enough to be responsible for himself and released to the wild!
Next up is Bella, who I call “Grandma Bella”, because she’s pretty old! Bella is a Marmoset, and she’s been living in the sanctuary for a long time. Recently, we’ve made some new adjustments to her enclosure, so she can feel happy and safe. Now that she’s older, she can’t jump from branch to branch like she used to, so we added some bridges to connect the branches together! On “cold” days in Costa Rica (I know, crazy!) we give her a hot water bottle to lay on, so she can raise her body temperature without having to move around a lot. When I first started volunteering at KSTR, the second time I was there, I was going into her enclosure to give her diced food—she jumped on my shoulder! I tried to get her off, but she clearly wanted to hang out and rode long with me while I fed the parrots! Eventually, she got tired of the Dani Ride, so I took her back to her cage 🙂
UPDATE ON THE NURSERY! We’re almost done building, and it’s time to start looking for interns! We’re now accepting applications to help the Nursery Mom with care for the babies. Check out our website if you want more information kstr.org.
KSTR – April 2022
Hi Guys, it’s Dani, your spokeskid for KSTR!
Today, I am excited to share 3 stories about animals at the sanctuary with you—1 about an animal who is there for good but very happy and has a girlfriend, one about an animal fighting hard to get back out into the wild, and one very inspiring story about a friend of MINE who helped save an injured animal at KSTR.
Darwin is a spider monkey who was rescued from someone who was keeping him as a pet, and introduced him to people a lot. Darwin was aggressive towards people, and the pet owner asked KSTR to take him. Darwin continues to be aggressive towards people—but he has settled in very nicely at KSTR, and even has a roommate—or as I like to call her, a Girl friend (named Nina—who is also a spider monkey).
Next is a Capuchin Monkey named Arfonzito, who was electrocuted and had damage to his tail. After trying to save his tail, the vets at KSTR had to amputate his tail to save his life. He’s currently recovering at KSTR, and he is trying hard to learn how to live (and move) without his tail, so that he can go back to nature, where he belongs!
KSTR – March 2022
Kids Saving the Rainforest wishes Dani a very Happy Belated Birthday! (Sorry, we are on sloth time!). We can hardly believe Dani just turned 9 years old and has been our Spokes kid for over a year!
Hi Everyone, it’s Dani, your spokes kid for KSTR, Kids Saving the Rainforest!
Today I am so excited to make a big announcement—we’re building a new Nursery at KSTR, to rehabilitate baby animals! I thought that since it’s spring, which is when most babies are born in nature, it was a good time to talk about our new Nursery!
The new Nursery will have 2 stories. The bottom story will be for the “Nursery Mom” to stay comfortably and take care of the animals, and the upper level will be for the babies. If you’re wondering what the “nursery mom” is—all babies we have were abandoned, or don’t have moms, so they need someone to take care of them. That’s where the nursery mom comes in. She takes care of the babies like a child. She feeds them and makes sure their cage is clean and they are taken care of. We usually have 2 nursery moms, who trade shifts every 12 hours because the babies need to be fed as often as every 2 hours—this is an extremely demanding job!
KSTR – February 2022
Hi, This is Dani – your spokeskid for Kids Saving the Rainforest—or KSTR!
First of all, I want to wish a very Happy 23rd Anniversary to KSTR! It was started in February 1999, by two 9 year old’s, Janine and Aislin, and Janine’s mom Jennifer.
Next, I want to wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day!
Today I am going to tell you about why the rainforest is so important for our planet, and our animals—and not JUST the ones in the rainforest. In addition to all the beauty that exists, and animals that live in the rainforest, the rainforest also does a lot to help our environment stay healthy and clean.
The rainforest has many big trees and lots of plants that take in tons of Carbon Dioxide and put out clean air. If the earth’s atmosphere contains too much Carbon Dioxide, it will raise the temperature of the earth by changing our greenhouse gasses, and will harm animals that rely on the temperature, like Polar Bears, Penguins, and other animals that live in cold environments.
I’ve talked about this before, how we can limit our carbon footprint—like eating less meat/dairy, walking, biking, or skateboarding instead of driving, and not using so much energy by turning off lights when you’re not using them. The rainforests we have now absorb about 50% of the Carbon Dioxide we make—and it’s important that we keep the rainforest trees and plants healthy so they can help save the environment and the temperature on earth stay great for all its inhabitants!
Did you know that KSTR has planted over 17,400 trees over the past 22 years? Pretty amazing, right?
Here is a picture of 2 of the Co-founders Janine and her mom, Jennifer, planting a tree. It was taken 17 years ago!
At KSTR, we work hard to keep all the trees and to build our sanctuary around them—for example, we use natural fallen wood for the enclosures we build and the enrichments we put inside them! We’d love to see you at the sanctuary for a tour and we can tell you all about what we’re doing to save the rainforest.
Check us out at kstr.org.
KSTR – January 2022
Hi Everyone—Dani Here!
We wish you all a Prosperous, Healthy, and Happy New Year in Beautiful Costa Rica.
Today I want to tell you about a few of the injured animals at our sanctuary, and what we need to do to prepare them to go back to the wild. The two animals I want to tell you about are Patricia, an injured Heron, and Teo, an injured Titi Squirrel Monkey.
Patricia is a Heron who was found orphaned, with an injured leg. She had to be immobilized, and her leg had to be bandaged so that it could heal. Because she was immobilized, she needs to learn how to hunt for her own food before she can be released.
KSTR December 2021
Hi Everyone, it’s Dani, your spokeskid for KSTR!
Happy Holidays!
The holiday period is a busy time here in Manuel Antonio for tourists and locals alike. So I wanted to tell you about all the interactions we do with the animals during this period.
In my experience working with the animals in the winter, we do lots of fun and exciting activities with the animals. We decorate the outside of their cages (so the animals can experience Feliz Navidad, from a distance 🙂 ) And we give them presents!
During Christmas time every year we make “presents” for the animals, with their food inside! Then, the animals get to “open” the presents, and eat their food and treats. We try to give them their favorite foods or snacks in these presents. For example, we give the Capuchin monkeys spiders in their boxes (because that’s their favorite snack!). The Marmosets get peanuts, and the Coatimundi love watermelon, so we give them lots of extra watermelon in their treat box! Last year, kids in Quepos decorated the presents for the animals! We made sure to use kid-safe non-toxic markers to keep the animals safe.
Climate Change and the Rainforest
Hi Everyone, my name is Dani, and I am your spokeskid for Kids Saving the Rainforest! If you didn’t know, Kids Saving the Rainforest is a refuge in Manuel Antonio, where sick or injured animals are taken to help get them healthy and back in the wild. Today I want to talk about why it’s important for kids to stop climate change to save the animals in the rainforest, and some things you can personally do to help.
Climate change is destroying the habitats of the amazing animals who live in the rainforest, like Sloths, Monkeys, Reptiles, Cotamundi, and so much more. Also, in colder parts of the world like the Arctic, ice and snow is melting, and some animals who need the snow, like penguins, polar bears, and sea lions, who need the cold to survive are dying. Those animals have families, and just like us, they just have one chance at life, and we want to help them, so they have good long lives.
Some ways that you, personally, can help stop climate change are to eat less meat, and dairy—those food items cause more Methane gas, which speeds up climate change. Also, you can use less energy like when you’re not using your lights, turn them off! When you can walk, bike, or skateboard somewhere instead of driving, that helps too.
If you’re a grownup reading this, try to explain this to the kids or young people in your life, so they can help, and understand why it’s important to stop climate change. If you’re a kid reading this then you have a long life to go, and it’s important to stop climate change because we only have this one chance!
Climate change is a very important issue in the world today, and we need to change. Thank you for reading!
KSTR – July/August 2021
Hola Quepolandia Readers! It’s Dani, the spokeskid for KSTR. This month, I want to talk about how KTSR helps animals by preventing accidents.
Some of the animals came to KTSR because they got hurt in traffic. My mom told me a story about the first time I came to Costa Rica when I was 9 months old. Here is a picture of me on Manuel Antonio Beach from that trip—now I know why I love Costa Rica so much! She said that we watched a big family of squirrel monkeys run across the street and almost get hit by a car. That’s how my family first learned about KSTR.
Have you ever seen those thick blue ropes hanging in the trees above the roads? Kids Saving the Rainforest builds wildlife bridges with ICE that cross above the roads in Manuel Antonio. That way, the animals don’t have to risk running across the street and getting hit. So, after seeing that close call with the monkey family on the main road to the beach, my parents donated a wildlife bridge in Valle Pura Vida (where the old KSTR wildlife rescue center used to be!) My mom says it is the best souvenir she has ever got.
The bridges are also great for another reason. Have you ever seen the monkeys run on the power lines? Well, that can also be very dangerous for them, as they can get shocked by high-voltage wires. If you ever see a loose wire- or hear it crackling when it rains, please call ICE so they can fix it! The KSTR blue ropes also help keep our little friends from being electrocuted.
If you want to sponsor building a wildlife bridge of your own, please email jennifer@kstr.org or go to donate at kstr.org. We would love to hear from you. On my last trip to Costa Rica a few months ago, we saw a Howler Monkey (my favorite monkey—they are crazy and loud, and I love their beautiful faces!) on a wildlife bridge in Valle Pura Vida. It is such a wonderful thing to see monkeys safe up in the sky and trees.