Animals of Zoorefugio Tarqui

For the past two weeks, I have spent my time volunteering at an animal refuge known as Zoorefugio Tarqui in the Pastaza province of Ecuador. Most of the animals here were once pets and have gotten use to living with people, so they cannot return to the wild. Others are animals that have been injured and will be returned to the wild once they have healed.

Me and three other volunteers work on a daily basis with the zookeepers to clean the cages and give food to the animals. We work five days a week for six hours, one day a week for four hours, and then we get the final day off to rest/travel.

Since the refuge is located in the Amazon, it receives a variety of exotic animals, which includes many that I had never seen in person or heard of before arriving in Ecuador. With that being said, here are some pictures of several of the animals that me and my fellow volunteers work with.