Part2: Sacred Valley Sanctuario Animal de Ccochahuasi
As the bus came to a stop our tour leader explained that we were at a family run animal sanctuary rescuing animals from the black markets. This sanctuary was completely funded by the owner and donations. We were met by an enthusiastic owner whose passion for his animals, their safety and protection was oozing out every pore. Though he only spoke Spanish and we only spoke English, his enthusiasm and appreciation for the animals on his property rubbed off on us.
Beautiful Macaws
Slowly through an interpreter we heard his story. He is a retired biologist who has now dedicated himself to saving animals from the black market. One Macaw easily fetched a price of US$1000 and are third only to drugs and guns sold on the black market. With sadness he explained that macaws (up to a 1000) would be stuffed into PVC piping and smuggled overseas. Only about 10% of these birds would survive the journey – but even 10% at US$1000, black market dealers felt this was worth the loss. Many of the Macaws rescued were released back into the wild, however those that were hurt, sick or had been mistreated in some way stayed as permanent guests on his property.
The largest flying birds: the Andean Condors
His favourite birds though were the condors. As he led us to the cage he explained that the condor was an important symbol for Shamans who believed in animal spirits living on the earth. The condor depicted heaven. Eagerly he led us into a cage housing three big, mighty birds with attitude and character whose entertainment for the day was making tourists duck as they swooped past us. Two of the three were rescued after being fed poison. It was taking time to work with local farmers on the value of condors and dealing with their fear of these birds. They are now seen as a pest trying to steal their livelihood.
Fashion conscious Dogs
Our guide taking a breather on an old chair, whistled for his four-legged companions. We gasped at these dogs. They were completely hairless except for their fashionable Mohawk fringes. These were the Peruvian Hairless Dogs, affectionate family pets but a little wary of us. I don’t blame them; I was probably as wary of them! While watching their antics the owner explained they have a body temperature of 40oC making them useful for those suffering from arthritis. (It took a while to figure out that because of the heat they generate, when they sleep on the bed with someone struggling with arthritis, their body heat helps alleviate stiffness caused by the cold weather.)
As a sanctuary their role was to rescue, rehabilitate and educate. This was an upward battle against black marketers desperate for income, black market buyers who had no respect or concept of the damage they were doing to the environment, farmers pushed to encroach on natural environment creating conflict between wild animals and producing an income. And they did this all with dedication, passion and no government funding. I really admired them!