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.
First, we have the monkeys. Usually, for the monkeys, in the morning, we give them a fruit salad with Watermelon, Papaya, and other good fruit. In the afternoon, we mix the same fruit salad, but add some vegetables—for example we add sweet potatoes, carrots, and green beans. We give them these foods because all the animals in our sanctuary were at one point in the wild, and the food we’re giving them is like the diet they would have had in the wild. In case you haven’t noticed, monkeys spend a lot of time jumping from tree to tree, across branches. One of the reasons they are doing that, is to look for food—many of the fruits in their diet at KSTR grow in trees in Costa Rica! At the sanctuary, we had 3 squirrel monkeys who needed medicine. They did NOT like the flavor of the medicine. So, we used a syringe to squirt the medicine into a marshmallow, which everybody knows monkeys love! (We normally try to only feed our animals natural food that comes from their habitats, but when we need to get medicine into them, we sometimes use small treats.)
At KSTR, there’s a Capuchin monkey named Moncho, and he’s brown, instead of Black and White—but he’s still a Capuchin monkey! He sometimes gets mistaken for a baby, because he’s smaller than a normal monkey. One time, we were gathering spiders to feed the monkeys. (Monkeys love eating spiders, and catching and eating a live bug helps remind them how to be in the wild!). When we put the jar with 4 spiders in front of the enclosure, we saw Moncho eat 2 spiders—but when we took the jar to move it to another enclosure, it turns out there was only 1 spider left! Moncho snuck an extra spider! Fun fact: monkeys are very smart and can be very sneaky.
In the sanctuary, we also have a Green Parrot, and on his neck he has no feathers—because he used to be a pet, and his owners had a dog. One day, he got loose from his cage, and the dog found him and attacked him. After that, the owners called KSTR, and we took him in with happiness and joy. 
Hello Quepolandia! My name is Dani, and I will be your new Spokeskid for Kids Saving the Rainforest! I am 7 years old, and this is my first article—I hope you enjoy it.
By Mckenzie Wing, Volunteer Coordinator & Biologist
