How many of you out there in your lifetime have found a baby bird and took it home, put it in a box and tried your best to be a substitute “Mama” bird?
Most of us who find a young bird automatically want to care and feed the bird. But did you know it is strongly recommended that you not do this?Believe it or not, you are more likely to do more harm than good. So, what do you do instead? Examine the bird for injuries, if hurt take it to a local veterinarian or call MINAE.
Below we have listed some ideas to help you be environmentally aware.
When cooling your house keep the following in mind:
A ceiling fan uses a lot less energy than air conditioners.
When you have to use the air conditioner, remember to keep your thermostat at 80 to 82 degrees to save energy.
Keep your ceiling fan on when you have the air conditioner on, it will improve you’re air conditioner’s efficiency.
Be sure all doors and windows are closed when using the air, and curtains closed when the sun is coming through the windows, as the sun will heat up the room.
Seal all air leaks in your rooms so the cold air won’t escape.
There is great news about the Old Wife’s tale that it uses more energy to turn lights on and off than to leave them on. That is what it is, just an Old Wife’s tale, it is not true! If you are going to be out of the room for more than a minute you should turn them off.
As most of you already know, use energy efficient light bulbs. They are great for saving energy and helping reduce energy usage.
Vernita Gundy our new Administrative Assistant and Volunteer Coordinator, she volunteered for us 2 years ago and moved from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the US and plans to keep us on track and manage the incoming flow of volunteers throughout the year.
Samantha Trull our new Vet Tech volunteered for us 2 years ago too. Sam hails from Durham, North Carolina in the US and is also a primatologist/photographer. She has already taken amazing pictures of the orphans/rescue animals for us at KSTR.
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.
We moved the Rescue Center out to our Wildlife Sanctuary on March 15th, 2013. Please print this and keep it handy in case you find a wild animal that is abandoned, hurt, or injured.
Abandoned baby animal: Be sure the mother is not nearby or out getting food for the baby. Do not touch the baby until you are sure the baby is abandoned, unless the baby is in danger of being attacked by dogs or other animals.
The animals of the rainforest wish you a Happy Valentine’s Day and want to thank you for helping them! We have a great idea for your list of Valentines. Give them a Valentine’s Day Card with a certificate in their name on the inside. It will be pretty on the outside and one of a kind, made by volunteers! On the inside will be a certificate that can be framed. Make a donation of $20 or more and we will give you a certificate in the name of your loved one, which makes a perfect Valentine’s Day card. Spread some love and save the wildlife! We sincerely appreciate your support in helping us to continue our lifesaving work with the wildlife in our area!
Great things are happening here at KSTR with more exciting things to come during the new year!
We have received permission to move our Rescue Center to the Finca in the country, which is also where the KSTR Sanctuary, sustainable farm and the Blue Banyan Inn are located. Our official move date is 3/15/2013.
If you are looking for a great holiday gift, we have the solution! Shop in the KSTR Store located adjacent to the Hotel Mono Azul Rainforest Restaurant in Manuel Antonio. You will get great value, (the prices are the best), and you will be saving the rainforest at the same time! (100% of the proceeds go to save the rainforest!)
As we look at the end of every year Kids Saving The Rainforest (KSTR) reflects on all of the gifts and support we have received through the year. We are so grateful to be able to help the world in fighting the battle of Climate Change and we are definitely making a difference, one tree, one animal, at a time. We continue to grow year after year in part by receiving support for our programs from you. We thank you all for helping to make this possible and wish you the best in 2013!
We would like to take this time to formally thank all of you who helped Kids Saving the Rainforest raise money for our Wildlife Rescue Center. The event was amazing and we are very grateful to say that we raised more than $4,500! This will help us to sustain our efforts at the center for a limited period of time and ensure continued maintenance to rescue, rehabilitate and release wildlife in our zone!
Kids Saving the Rainforest is focused on preserving and protecting the local wildlife. This mission includes housing a wildlife sanctuary on the grounds of the Blue Banyan Inn on the property that is called “the finca”. The sanctuary currently houses 29 monkeys plus a crab eating raccoon. Feeding them, as well as the volunteers that care for them, and BBI’s numerous guests can take an extraordinary amount of food.
KSTR strives to implement a more sustainable operation on the Finca and our next venture in this arena is creating a sustainable egg supply to feed monkeys, volunteers, and guests.
Mother being followed by a baby on a Monkey Bridge
By Jenny Thelan, Volunteer and Pre-Vet Student at Iowa State
Have you ever seen the blue ropes hanging around Manuel Antonio and Quepos? Those aren’t just any ropes, those are known as monkey bridges, and they’re very important for the conservation for all the monkeys in the area. The monkey bridges hanging way up in the trees over the road help provide safe paths for monkeys (and other animals) to travel safely over the roads. This helps prevent numerous vehicle accidents where monkeys are hit by cars, and also helps prevent the monkeys from using electrical wires and getting electrocuted.
We are thrilled that hotel owners and wedding planners unanimously agreed to stop setting off fireworks in Manuel Antonio due to their negative impact on the wildlife and environment here!
Fireworks create a very serious problem and a very dangerous one for the rainforest. We have found that most people do not want to cause harm to the wildlife of our area, that is part of the reason they are visiting or living here. But ignorance (which means “lack of knowledge, education and unawareness of something, often of something important”) is the main culprit. So by writing this article, people will now know the effects of fireworks on the wildlife and the environment, and will understand the seriousness of it.
I learned about KSTR last year when I first spoke with Pía, the KSTR Wildlife Vet. We were talking about my Educational Program in “Project Management” and how it is a way to improve the efficiency in a business project. KSTR was interested in learning about it and I was interested in putting it to work. KSTR consists of dedicated people with a keen sense of the environment and filled with fantastic ideas. To implement these ideas formally we began with the project “Kids Saving the Rainforest Strategic Planning and Organization for 2012/2013”. This plan serves as a structured framework in organizational developmental processes. The team consists of Costa Rican, American and German members.
This month KSTR has been working hard on a strategic plan to move us forward. We have all the projects: Wildlife Rescue Center, Monkey Bridges, Wildlife Sanctuary, Reforestation, Organic Gardens for the wildlife we care for, and a new Volunteer Center and Program to educate students, biologists, vets, teachers about the rainforest and how they can help to save it.
We are very proud of our efforts to save the rainforest, but we have run into a little problem of not being able to fund them! So we have a new Fundraising Director, Scott Braman, who is a graduate of Dartmouth College and a Fulbright Scholar who lived and worked with remote tribes in Ecuador’s Amazon. Scott is currently making important documentaries in LA, check out his website to see his work: http://www.scottcbraman.com/
Welcome aboard Scott!
With Scott’s help we have come up with several ways to raise donations and wanted to share them with you!
KSTR has been expanding rapidly and we are excited to share it with you! We have just completed a new volunteer center at our Wildlife Sanctuary with bunkrooms and deluxe rooms. We have a great program set up for all types of volunteers; long term, short term, and Zoo Keeper experiences. We are accepting student groups from Universities, High Schools and Middle Schools, from around the world. We have university groups from Costa Rica as well and are expanding to include high schools on International field trips.
If you would like more information, please contact Pablo, our Volunteer Coordinator at [email protected]
By Vernita Gundy, KSTR Volunteer Coordinator 
