ARCAS Wildlife Rescue Center in Peten
Located on the edge of The Mayan Biosphere Reserve (MBR) in the northern Petén region of Guatemala, integral part of the Mesoamerica’s Maya Forest. Which is the second largest remaining tropical rainforest in the Americas. The 13.3 million-acre forest stretches across Belize, northern Guatemala and through Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, is second only to the Amazon in South America.
In addition to an abundance of biological diversity, the MBR also contains a wealth of discovered and undiscovered Mayan archeological sites, the best known being the stunning temple complexes of Tikal. However, both these natural and archeological resources are under threat by a variety of factors including human immigration from other parts of Guatemala, illegal logging, oil exploration and the spread of the agricultural frontier.
One of the natural resources under the greatest threat in Peten is its wildlife, a victim of habitat loss, unsustainable hunting and capture for the illegal pet trade. The decline in local populations of wild animals is obvious and dramatic. The large noisy flocks of scarlet macaws (Ara macao) reported by early explorers have been reduced to just 300 birds primarily in the Laguna del Tigre Park.
While fairly plentiful even 15 years ago, Baird’s tapirs and jaguars are becoming more and more difficult to see. The giant anteater and the Harpy eagle have not been sighted in recent years and are presumed extinct in the region.
One of the natural resources under the greatest threat in Peten is its wildlife, a victim of habitat loss, unsustainable hunting and capture for the illegal pet trade. The decline in local populations of wild animals is obvious and dramatic. The large noisy flocks of scarlet macaws (Ara macao) reported by early explorers have been reduced to just 300 birds primarily in the Laguna del Tigre Park.
While fairly plentiful even 15 years ago, Baird’s tapirs and jaguars are becoming more and more difficult to see. The giant anteater and the Harpy eagle have not been sighted in recent years and are presumed extinct in the region.
ARCAS was founded in 1989 in order to help combat the illegal wildlife trade in the Petén region. Its first act was to establish the Wild Animal Rescue Center, a direct response to the fact that although the Guatemalan government was beginning to comply with the CITES treaty (www.cites.org) by confiscating trafficked wildlife, there was no adequate facility to treat and rehabilitate these animals. Under a cooperative agreement with the Guatemalan government, ARCAS is recognized as the official destination for all confiscated wildlife taken from smugglers in the Mayan Biosphere Reserve. Since 1990, ARCAS has rescued between 300 to 600 endangered species per year of more than 40 different species. See the inventory of animals brought to the Rescue Center or check our Annual Reports on our publications page.
Our ProgramsEnvironmental Education
Our ProgramsEnvironmental Education
ARCAS Wild Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Center
The ARCAS Wildlife Rescue Center is accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries as having met the highest standard in humane animal care.
The Rescue Center is situated on a 45 hectare tract of land on Lake Petén Itza next to the Peténcito Zoo, just a 10 minute boat ride from the tourist center of Flores. It is comprised of a quarantine area, a veterinary clinic, animal maintenance area, pre-rehabilitation and Rehabilitation. There is a kitchen, dining room, workshop area, volunteer house, employee housing and a large floating dock. Large rehabilitation enclosures and flight cages are scattered throughout the jungle in order to reduce stress to the animals.
Animals received at the Rescue Center must first go through a quarantine period of at least 60 days in order to make sure that they do not have any diseases that can spread to the main rehabilitation population. Most animals received at the Center are very young and require immediate and constant care: chicks must be fed by hand; monkeys must be intensively supervised. When injured animals are received, they are taken immediately for medical treatment at the clinic.
Once animals finish quarantine, depending on the species, they are either formed into flocks or troupes and are released into the rehabilitation enclosures where they build up their flight muscles, improve their ability to move about in the forest and feed themselves. At this stage, they are analyzed in terms of their ability to survive in the wild.