Slothy Sunday: Working with Toucan Rescue Ranch during COVID-19

Starting Wednesday, March 18, the president of Costa Rica has announced the closing of all international tourism to Costa Rica. The country has declared a State of Emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic. This means that Costa Rica will not allow non-residents into the country until Sunday, April 12. The decree has also recommended that all people in Costa Rica stay home to self-quarantine and avoid any nonessential travel during this time.

In response to this emergency, Toucan Rescue Ranch has implemented safety precautions for its team by keeping a constant supply of hand sanitizer in the Education Center. At the end of each day, we are disinfecting all surfaces in our Education Center and providing foot sanitation baths for high trafficked areas. Our Vet Supervisor, Ana Maria, gave a lecture to staff, volunteers, and interns about coronavirus and information regarding this pandemic.

We have also postponed the arrivals of new international volunteers and interns. We are now relying on a small team of mostly local volunteers to meet the daily demands of the rescue center. Our staff is working together to ensure that the labor shortcomings do not impact the animals and Toucan Rescue Ranch’s daily demands to give quality care to its animals.

We know that most countries have encouraged its citizens to stay home and practice safe distancing and therefore, many of our donors, supporters, potential visitors, and fans are doing a home self-quarantine.

Since the beginning of March, Toucan Rescue Ranch has experienced an unprecedented decline in donation-income and an overwhelming request for donation reimbursements. We encourage all residents to continue to take these safety precautions seriously; however, as a rescue center, we continue to be servants to the animals that are in our care and we must keep coming to work: to rescue hurt and confiscated wildlife, to feed the animals in our care, provide medical treatments, and free the animals who are ready to be released back into the wild. As a U.S. nonprofit organization, licensed Costa Rican wildlife rescue facility, and Costa Rican charity foundation, we operate completely off of generous donations.

If you are able to help us during this time, Toucan Rescue Ranch has put together a comprehensive list of ways to donate and help us keep caring for the animals at our facility:

Thank you for sticking with us and all the rescued wildlife of Toucan Rescue Ranch. We are constantly in awe of the empathy, compassion, and kindness of the incredible supporters of Toucan Rescue Ranch and its mission – thank you for supporting us!

Our Volunteer Coordinator, Peter Csizmadia, is available 24/7 to answer any current or incoming volunteer inquiries regarding daily updates on government restrictions, rearranging service dates, and additional travel information. He can be reached at peter@toucanrescueranch.org or on WhatsApp at +506.6048.4607.

We are ALWAYS available for wildlife rescue. Feel free to contact us if you have a wild animal emergency at +506.2268.4041

This article was produced by The Toucan Rescue Ranch. The Toucan Rescue Ranch specializes in helping wild animals recover so that they can be reintroduced into the wild. For more information or to donate, visit the Toucan Rescue Ranch website.