The Amazon market illegally trading in endangered animals
June 18, 2019
Project goal: Rehabilitation and reintegration of rescued wildlife, identifying new host plants for the Amazon's 2,000 known butterfly species, protecting the rare, endangered bald uakari
Project implementation: Giving guided tours on the illegal animal trade to school and university students and tourists. Fundraising projects for reintegration of animals to the wild, raising awareness of illegal trade
Project goal: Wildlife rescue, rehabilitation and release; environmental education
Implementation: Rehabilitating illegally trafficked animals in artificial enclosures with the aim of reintroducing them to their natural habitat
In the middle of the Amazon rainforest, is a Peruvian city of around 400,000 inhabitants. You can't reach Iquitos by road. The only way to get there is by plane or boat. The people living there and in other parts of the Amazon in Peru are allowed to hunt — but only for themselves and their families. Commercial hunting is banned. Still, visitors to the city's raucous Belen market can buy all kinds of endangered animals — alive or dead. The Pilpintuwasi animal orphanage and conservation group, the Amazon Rescue Center (CREA), are working to protect animals caught up in the wildlife trade.
A film by Tanja Blut