Kids Saving the Rainforest – July 2019

Greetings Quepolandia readers! This is Karma Casey. I’m the spokeskid for Kids Saving the Rainforest. If you’ve never heard of us, KSTR is a wildlife rescue, veterinary clinic, rehabilitation and sanctuary in Quepos, Costa Rica. We work hard saving animals, planting trees, and educating the public.

This month, I’m going to tell you about the rescue of a very special animal you may have never heard of. A Jaguarundi! Although quite common, these elusive animals like to stay hidden in their rainforest homes, and you may have never caught a glimpse of one.

The Jaguarundi is a wild cat about twice the size of a house cat. They come in two colors, either a blackish brown, or a reddish yellow. I think they look like small cougars. It’s not usual that we get in wild cats at Kids Saving the Rainforest, but this was an emergency and we are always there to help!

Jennifer Rice, the president of KSTR (Kids Saving the Rainforest) was driving down the highway when she saw something in the middle of the road. She stopped traffic, getting out of her car to see what the animal was. It was a Jaguarundi!

The Jaguarundi was in bad shape and needed help. As fate would have it, a vet named Diego Zuniga who helps KSTR also just happened to be driving by! Diego got out and examined the animal. It was still alive, only unconscious! Unable to find a box they put him on a large flat piece of cardboard as a stretcher. Diego sat in the back with him while they drove him to the nearest vet.

As they arrived, they hit a pothole awaking the Jaguarundi! He jumped around wildly in the trunk. It took two vets to restrain him and get him out of the car! They checked his weight and did some x-rays. It took three of them to restrain the feisty guy for his x-rays.

It was amazing!! He had no broken bones! Django, as we called the Jaguarundi, was brought back to the Kids Saving the Rainforest veterinary clinic to recover and be watched over by our dedicated veterinary staff.

Django had to eat and recuperate before we could release him. The clinic team tried for five days to get Django to eat, but he wouldn’t. We thought and thought until we realized… Jaguarundis are predators! Maybe we needed to feed him live food. We didn’t know but we had to try it.

We gave Django a live chicken, and boom! He very quickly devoured it! We were thrilled! After a little bit of time of recuperation, finally Django was strong enough. Funnily enough, he was ready to be released on Earth Day. Another great way to celebrate this fun holiday!

Kids Saving the Rainforest released him back in the area we found him, but far, far away from the highway! We weren’t sure how it would go, but as soon as we opened the crate, he ran away happily quicker than the blink of an eye. Everyone on the KSTR team was so happy for Django. He had come a long way since we had found him on the highway, and finally his journey back into the wild was complete!

Remember, if you find injured or orphaned wildlife, Kids Saving the Rainforest can help! Send a WhatsApp message to 88-ANIMAL. This goes straight to our veterinary clinic team, and they can help come to the rescue!

That’s my story for this month, readers. Read me next time!