Hello again! This is Karma from Kids Saving The Rainforest. This month I am going to talk a little bit about our beautiful oceans! Here at KSTR, we mostly spend our time rescuing local wildlife and planting trees, but we care about the ocean too! Recently, some of our volunteers pitched in helping a beach cleanup with another great local group, Operation Rich Coast. They organize lots of beach cleanups in lots of different areas, so if you would like to help them out on their next beach clean-up follow them on Facebook at facebook.com/operationrichcoast.
I am a very lucky person because I get to go to the Manuel Antonio beach almost every day! One day I was walking, and I found a piece of coral on the ground. It was white, and it still had a little bit of purple on it. I learned at my school, Life Project Education, that white coral is dead coral. I wondered, was this piece of coral being killed by something that humans had done? Read More…
Hi! This is Karma, from Kids Saving The Rainforest again! Last month, I talked to you about how you can help collect leaves for hungry sloths and anteaters in our rescue center. Our friends at Hostel Plinio have offered to be a drop-off spot for all those yummy leaves you collect for us. Thanks guys! If you missed last month’s LEAF-let, you can contact my mom at [email protected] to learn more.
This month, I am going to tell you about a very special visitor who came to Kids Saving the Rainforest. Jeff Corwin! Jeff is a biologist and conservationist who travels all over the world filming with wildlife! He visited us with his film crew for his show on ABC, called Ocean Treks with Jeff Corwin.
While filming, Jeff focused on our wildlife rescue and relief work. He even met a very special animal from our nursery, Peanut the anteater! Jeff and his crew arrived on a very exciting day! They went with our veterinarian Dr. Sofia Bernal to release a Grey Crowned Squirrel Monkey, Cocorita.
Coco came into Kids Saving the Rainforest showing possible signs of neurological damage. Our clinic staff worked hard to nurse Coco back to health. Jeff’s crew looked on as Coco had her final check, and was released back with her troop! Another animal back in the wild where they belong!
We invite you to come visit Kids Saving the Rainforest, too! We give tours at 9 am every day except for Tuesday. You might even see me there! Until next month, Quepolandia readers. Have a wonderful February!
Happy New Year from Karma, a spokeskid at Kids Saving the Rainforest! With the first issue of the year, I wanted to reach out to our wonderful community of Manuel Antonio and Quepos and see how we can all get involved helping out Costa Rica’s wildlife!
To learn about one great way to help Kids Saving the Rainforest, check out the LEAF-let we are including in this issue! You can help collect leaves for the hungry sloths, anteaters, monkeys, and other wildlife in our care! These animals need lots of fresh leaves to help give them a more natural diet. The animals in our nursery and rescue center need to learn the foods they will eat in the wild once they are released. You can help!
Greetings! Karma Casey here, a spokes-kid for Kids Saving the Rainforest! You may remember me from my interview with Lexi Bacca a couple of issues ago. I moved to Costa Rica to help KSTR, and I’m 9 years old, just like Janine & Aislin when they started our organization way back in 1999.
It’s that time of year again: The holidays! If you are looking for a unique gift that makes a difference, you might consider sponsoring a sloth at Kids Saving The Rainforest! For a donation of at least $30, you will get a plush sloth, a photo and a story of a real live sloth saved by KSTR, a certificate, and fun facts about sloths!
Although plush sloths are good to snuggle and hold, real sloths are not! They will become so stressed out they may even die. Also, it is very illegal to hold or touch wild animals. When an orphaned baby sloth comes into Kids Saving The Rainforest, they are given a plush animal to hold onto very much like the one you will receive. They cling to it like they would their mother. Read More…
By Jennifer Rice PhD, President of Kids Saving the Rainforest
How did wildlife bridges come to Costa Rica you might ask? We at Kids Saving The Rainforest have the story for you.
Squirrel (Titi) Monkey using our bridge in 2005
In the year 2000, a group called Amigos Del Monos came to Kids Saving the Rainforest (KSTR) and told us that they could not get ICE, (the Electric Company), to help them put up monkey bridges. They felt that KSTR could get their attention.
Luckily, we could do so and the KSTR Wildlife Bridge Program was started. In the beginning, KSTR had a team to put up the bridges as you can see in a picture of Lenin putting up a bridge in 2002.
Much later ICE started working hand in hand with KSTR. Since then KSTR gives presentations to ICE’s environmental workers from around the country about the bridges. We also taught their workers how to save wildlife up on the electrical wires.
Hello, and welcome to your monthly article from me, your faithful KSTR spokeskid. This month I have some good news and some bad news!
A few days ago, I had a chance to interview a 9-year-old girl named Karma, who moved here with her mom specifically for KSTR. Karma’s mom, Kerri, is the new Volunteer Coordinator for the organization. I was able to ask Karma a few questions about herself and why she moved here, and what she intends to do with KSTR.
Karma & Lexi
And, as we all know, I’m getting old. (Back pains and everything!). I’m also going to be moving soon which means, unfortunately, I will have to step-down as spokeskid for KSTR. Now now, try and hold back your tears. You won’t be left spokeskid-less! Karma is going to take over and honestly, she’ll probably do a better job than I have!
Still, I’m going to miss working as spokeskid. It’s been a long ride, but a fun one nonetheless. I enjoyed writing articles, doing radio shows, visiting the sanctuary, educating kids around the world, and everything else that was part of my job! People would even recognize my name from the articles on occasion. But I have no doubt everything will be in good hands once I leave.
Now, without further-a-do, here are a few of the questions I asked Karma and the answers she gave me!
Hello my dear readers! I am back, yet again, with another article. Last month, I spent a few weeks traveling around Central America, visiting Guatemala (More like Guatebueno!), Belize, and Honduras. While each place was beautiful in its own way, I did feel a longing for a comfort that I had allowed myself to be used to: clean water! As shocking as it is, in many places there is not a fresh and constant supply of water that you can drink…even in places with lakes, rivers, waterfalls, and ocean all around. We had to drink only out of water bottles and spend much more money than we usually would on water…and don’t get me started on the plastic waste. And that was only for a few weeks! So, this is your reminder about how lucky we are in Costa Rica, that clean water mustn’t be taken for granted!
My sister and me under a 400 year old ceiba tree in Tikal, Guatemala
And while we’re talking about things that we need every day in life that we shouldn’t take for granted, let’s talk about air! Or what gives us the clean and fresh air we breathe, trees! It’s rainy season in the rainforest, and this time of year is great for KSTR because it’s when we get to plant trees. This year, we have a new challenge: reforesting 94,000 trees! KSTR was donated 117 hectares to reforest a teak farm. So far this year, we have planted 2,950 trees (not including our July effort), and we will keep going until the rainy season stops. If you have saplings to donate or can provide transport so that we can plant, email me at [email protected] for more information. If you can’t make it to one of our plantings and would like to plant trees yourselves, below are some great tips!
Hello, once again! It’s me. I’m writing to you from Florida currently, although when you see this I will most likely be back in Costa Rica. My family took a very small vacation. But that isn’t what’s important…what’s important is that I’m here, and ready to deliver some good news!
Over a year ago, we received a grant from LATA (Latin American Travel Association) to release a troop of Squirrel Monkeys (affectionately known as “Titi” monkeys here). We were so thrilled when LATA granted the donation (thank you!), which gave us the ability to collect the information and supplies that we needed to conduct experiments that were absolutely necessary to ensure these orphaned monkeys safe release. We got busy and spent the next few months ensuring the monkeys would survive and thrive after release. Sadly, some did not pass and they will have to live out their lives in our wildlife sanctuary. (But don’t worry, they live in an enclosure that is 180 feet long and 30 feet wide, not to mention 50 feet high, so it is a mini-rainforest!)
This stunned and injured monkey was spotted in front of our house. KSTR to the rescue!
Hello once again, my dear faithful readers! I’m here to report to you about what’s new with me and KSTR, as I am every month! This month has been particularly interesting, I must say. A lot of things have happened, and a lot of new things are coming for me and KSTR! For the last few months I’ve been studying the KSTR tour cheat sheet, to ready myself to give a tour. I am happy to say that soon, I will be ready!
My family and I also happened to find an injured monkey, hiding in our neighbor’s bushes. She had a head wound, and possibly a broken limb. We went down, and watched her while we waited for KSTR to arrive. Then KSTR arrived and retrieved her, to take her back to the sanctuary and check out her injuries. She looked like such a sweet girl, and I genuinely felt terrible for her. I hope that she gets better soon, and is able to be released back into the wild. Good luck, little monkey.
Now as much as I’d like to turn that sentence into an Adele pun, I was wondering if after all these years I could learn to be a bit more mature. I am about to become a teenager, after all. Anyways, I’m here! I bet you all missed me. I have some great news to share! I got to eat hashbrowns for breakfast. Oh, also, my family saved an owl. What’s that? You’re more interested in the owl? Well, I mean, they were very good hashbrowns, but anything for my fans I guess.
A few weeks ago, my mom spotted an owl. She saw it was flapping its wings, but it didn’t seem to be getting anywhere. She quickly figured out that it was trapped in the barbed wire that encircled an area below our house, our private property. She headed down with my father, and my sister not too far behind, carrying a huge box. (Good job, Peaches!) Unfortunately, I was asleep for all of this, but eventually my father cut the owl out of the barbed wire, being very careful not to touch him. (Remember! Our hands transmit diseases.) They got him into the box, and took him to the KSTR sanctuary! We are happy to say, he’ll be ready for release soon. Read More…
Hello again! It’s me, your faithful writer Lexi, here with another article. I have great news! My new school schedule this year leaves room for helping the environment even more! Starting this month, I will begin to give tours at the KSTR sanctuary, and try to educate those who take them. I am both nervous and excited, but overall I am so glad to be given the chance to seize this opportunity. I am, of course, afraid that I may get something wrong, but if that does happen, I know it won’t be the end of the world! It will take some training and experience and I’ll just keep trying until I get it right. I want more than anything to help both the people and the animals. I’m so grateful that I have the ability to do this, and hope to find more ways to help the animals, the rainforest, and our community in the future.
Friendly reminder to not feed the monkeys! (We know, Lexi, you tell us every article!)
With that being said, I’ve been away for a month. I went to the US to see friends and family for the holidays. I missed my old friends and was so happy to spend time with them, but while I was there I missed being able to care for—and even just see—the wildlife here in Costa Rica. Although there were, and are, many things I miss about the US, caring for our environment is my passion and I can do so much more here to directly impact its future. As a result, I am glad to be back and ready to find different ways to make this world a better place! Read More…
Happy New Year, Kids Saving the Rainforest Hopes That All Your Wishes Come True!
Hello again! It’s me Lexi, KSTR spokeskid, here with another article. This time we’re going to talk about a subject that I have talked about before, but that I believe deserves another chance to be in the spotlight: Feeding the Monkeys. As I mentioned in a previous article, my family didn’t know any better when we arrived years ago in Costa Rica either. We were encouraged by tour guides to reach out with seeds and get the monkeys to come onto our kayaks in the mangroves. We have since educated ourselves and others, but there is much more work to be done.
The fact that people are still feeding monkeys saddens me, as KSTR has tried their best for years to stop people from doing so. I was just at a favorite restaurant yesterday, and one of the staff pulled out a banana and entertained some tourists by feeding the Squirrel (Titi) monkeys visiting the balcony. My mom and I of course said something, but the staff member didn’t see anything wrong with doing it. We followed up and sent the restaurant manager KSTR’s reasons not to feed the monkeys, and we will have to watch developments since our family doesn’t support businesses who feed monkeys. Here is the link to the list of reasons so you can always have it handy!
Kids Saving the Rainforest met with the government of Colombia and the USA to teach them about the KSTR Monkey Bridge Program initiated in 2000, and the first in Costa Rica. The meeting was held with ICE, who have been helping us with the monkey bridges for over 10 years. KSTR has also planted over 7000 trees and is currently reforesting 94,000 rainforest trees on land donated to them. Plus the KSTR rescue center has rescued over 220 wildlife so far this year.
It is amazing to see that two girls had such a vision in Manuel Antonio 17 years ago and that it could come this far! Go kid power!
Why did the sloth cross the road? Because there were no tree branches or monkey bridges! Hi, it’s Lexi again, Kids Saving the Rainforest spokeskid. As a KSTR volunteer, I get to learn about certain things that KSTR does to help the welfare of their animals, or just animals in Costa Rica in general. There are a lot of things they’ve done to try and make sure that the animals who live here are safe, and this month I’m going to talk about the monkey bridges along with a personal story of a sloth who could have used one.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Thanksgiving is a time when we all give thanks for what we have in our lives. We thank all of you who have helped us to continue saving the rainforest. We have much gratitude to you all!
Now a message from our spokeskid, Lexi.
As the spokeskid for Kids Saving the Rainforest (KSTR), I’m writing articles focused on a different program each month, and this month will be focused on our sanctuary. At KSTR, we have a sanctuary for animals that are either in the process of being rehabilitated, or cannot be released into the wild. We do tours of the sanctuary, which is part of our act to raise awareness about how the wildlife is treated, plus to teach people not to have wildlife in captivity, and last but not least, to show people how they can help save the rainforest. The sanctuary cares for many animals, ranging from sloths, parrots, several types of monkeys, hawks and other birds, marmosets, kinkajous, and even a blind coati. My favorite animal in the sanctuary is a half-blind white hawk named Glacier, who was found wandering aimlessly. Even though she is fully capable of flying, she doesn’t have good depth perception so will live out her life with us. Unfortunately, not all our wildlife can be released, due to many different reasons.
We get a lot of animals in due to electrocution. Because there are roads in the middle of their forest, animals seem to think that those conveniently placed telephone wires were made just for them. They end up crossing, and gaining severe injuries in the process. Fortunately, we have placed numerous ‘Monkey Bridges’ around Manuel Antonio, which has decreased the amount of animals that come in because of electrocution (stay tuned for a future article about our monkey bridges!).
By Karma Casey
Over a year ago, we received a grant from LATA (Latin American Travel Association) to release a troop of Squirrel Monkeys (affectionately known as “Titi” monkeys here). We were so thrilled when LATA granted the donation (thank you!), which gave us the ability to collect the information and supplies that we needed to conduct experiments that were absolutely necessary to ensure these orphaned monkeys safe release. We got busy and spent the next few months ensuring the monkeys would survive and thrive after release. Sadly, some did not pass and they will have to live out their lives in our wildlife sanctuary. (But don’t worry, they live in an enclosure that is 180 feet long and 30 feet wide, not to mention 50 feet high, so it is a mini-rainforest!)
Now as much as I’d like to turn that sentence into an Adele pun, I was wondering if after all these years I could learn to be a bit more mature. I am about to become a teenager, after all. Anyways, I’m here! I bet you all missed me. I have some great news to share! I got to eat hashbrowns for breakfast. Oh, also, my family saved an owl. What’s that? You’re more interested in the owl? Well, I mean, they were very good hashbrowns, but anything for my fans I guess.
Friendly reminder to not feed the monkeys! (We know, Lexi, you tell us every article!)
