Hola from ARCAS!

Hola,

Well we finally arrived safely on Sunday night in Flores, Guatemala after 3 flights and a 5hr layover in Guatemala City. We were driven deep into the rainforest to our cabin at ARCAS. 

ARCAS is a rescue and rehabilitation center for wildlife animals in Guatemala. Many animals at the center are rescued from animal trafficking. There are 564 animals here, 396 birds, 151 mammals, and 17 reptiles. The species range from small animals such as parrots, snakes, monkeys, to large cats like jaguars and ocelots. When the animals first enter the center they spend time in animal quarantine where they receive medical attention if need be. They then go to animal maintenance where they stay for 2 to 3 months,where they learn how to become animals again. Following this they go to pre rehabilitation where they have less contact with humans and bond as groups.  Finally they enter rehabilitation where they have much larger enclosures and are taught to avoid humans. They are then released back to the wild.  Often this process can take up to 5 to 6 years

 We have been having an awesome time so far and have been learning lots.

• We have helped with a bandage change and medicating a baby howler monkey (who was attacked by other monkeys), bandage change in a parrot(who had a broken leg), bandage change and feeding a falcon (who had surgery following a gun shot wound)  

Sabrina medicating the baby howler monkey

Terri and Sabrina assessing the wound on this parrot leg 

Mike and Michelle cleaning off the falcon after its delicious chicken meal.

• We also got to do a snake necropsy. The snake was found dead on the path. On physical exam we felt that one of cervical vertebrae may have been fractured. On necropsy we were able to confirm this as well as learn more about snake anatomy. 
  
• Yesterday Mike found a white fronted parrot that had flown into the cage and died. On physical exam it had blood coming from its nose and mouth. We also got to do a necropsy on this parrot with the help of Frenando our Spanish speaking vet. We determined that the parrot had trauma to the head which lead to it inhaling blood, as it´s air sacs and lungs were filled with blood. At the beggining of the necropsy we could see that the center of the keel was not completely straight as it should be. This was a result of calcium deficiency when the parrot was maturing.
  

Until next time here is a shout out to all the Stags reading this blog! 

Terri, Michelle, Mike, Sabrina