“Please, Feed the Wildlife” at Proyecto Asis Wildlife Rescue Center

In almost every country that I’ve ever visited, one of my favorite things to explore is the local wildlife. This world has such an astonishing amount of biodiversity, and that’s doubly true for countries like Costa Rica, with its lush rainforests that house a ton of unique creatures. But if we want to keep it that way, sometimes the animals could use a little help.  

That’s where wild animal rescue centers like Proyecto Asis come into play. 

Where is it?

What is it?

Proyecto Asis is a wildlife rescue center in La Fortuna, Costa Rica that’s dedicated to protecting the area’s biodiversity. They work as a rehabilitation center for wildlife that has been hurt by humans, or that has otherwise been removed from their original habitats. Many of the animals that come to them are former pets that could no longer stay with the families that raised them. Others are animals that were seized by police from poachers, or from illegal trading operations. 

Proyecto Asis works to help these animals recover from whatever was done to them, and, where possible, to reintroduce them to the wild. 

In some cases, that’s simply not a possibility, because the animal is too familiar with humans, too hurt or old to survive on its own, or because it isn’t feasible to get them back to an appropriate home location. In those cases, Proyecto Asis provides a place for these animals to stay where they can live out their days in safety. 

What Should I Do There?

In many ways, Proyecto Asis is very similar to a lot of the other wildlife rescue centers that we’ve had the opportunity to visit in our travels. They have a number of habitats with a variety of animals in different stages of the rehabilitation process, and you can get a close-up look at each one during a tour. 

Tour

Proyecto Asis holds group tours twice daily, with each one lasting around 2 hours. During that time, they take you through their entire facility, showing all the different kinds of animals that they work with. That includes a lot of parrots, toucans, and Macaws, three species of monkeys, coatis, peccaries, and occasionally a wild cat! 

The tour explains a lot about the different animals and why they’re there, as well as giving you some spectacular views of animals that you’d almost never be able to get in the wild. But don’t expect to hold any animals. 

Holding the animals goes against the entire ethos of Proyecto Asis. Animals that aren’t accustomed to humans find being touched by us to be an incredibly stressful event, and being handled can be harmful to them. But even when there are animals that are used to humans, getting touched can be problematic since it slows down the process of re-wilding them.  

Our guide was able to show us this most clearly with the different macaws currently on site. The macaws that had most recently been rescued were kept closer to the entranceway, and they would fly right up to any visitors looking for attention. It’s a behavior that’s really common in animals that have been living with people, but it’s also something that needs to be trained out of them before they can be released. If it’s not, then they will often be recaptured or hurt soon after being released because of it. 

Macaws that are closer to being released tend to ignore humans instead because they are getting their social needs met by the other birds. While it’s less entertaining for guests, it’s a behavior that will serve them well once they’ve been released.

We loved the entire tour experience! There was a ton of great information about the different animals, and we got some great looks at animals that we would never have gotten to see in the wild. 

Volunteer

But what really sets Proyecto Asis apart is that they also offer volunteering opportunities that allow for a closer look at all that goes into taking care of the animals. 

The volunteer program costs a little bit more than the regular tour, but for that money, you get to go behind the scenes and help out a bit with the feeding of the animals! 

We started our volunteering portion directly after the end of our group tour. The other guests were dismissed, and we were taken back to a “kitchen” area where the food for the animals was set off to the side. Our kids got the chance to help portion out the food for each animal so that everyone would get their fair share, and then we got to take a second tour around the facility to watch the feeding process. 

We weren’t allowed to do the actual feeding, for safety reasons, but it was a ton of fun getting to see the animals eat the food we had prepared! 

Sloth Sanctuary

A third tour option that Proyecto Asis offers adds on a visit to the local Sloth Sanctuary as well. We chose not to do this part during our visit this time around, but it looks like it could also be a lot of fun! 

They have both native species of sloth on-site at the sanctuary and are focused on rehabilitating and releasing them to the wild. The sloth sanctuary tour allows for a close-up view of different sloths, with explanations of each sloth’s personal history and chances to observe their natural behaviors. 

It sounds like a wonderful opportunity for anyone looking to see some sloths up close!

Other Programs

Alongside these three tours, Proyecto Asis offers a handful of educational opportunities, such as a week-long family volunteer trip, cultural homestays with local families, and even an international veterinary program for those interested in becoming vets! 

La Fortuna is filled with plenty of opportunities to get out into nature and see some great wildlife. That can make it hard to choose the right field trip experience for your family, at times. What Proyecto Asis has going for it is that it’s not only a great place to see some animals, but also an organization that’s trying to do some good by preserving the area’s biodiversity. 

It’s definitely worth a look!