Tree Planting & Jaguars

Last Sunday, Mother's Day, I went over to Santa Ana, the Onion Capital of Costa Rica, (for that Jeopardy Question) and participated in a tree planting/reforestation project at the Centro de Conservacion in Santa Ana. It was a blast. I found out about this through the Democrats Abroad. Kathy, our coordinator, is a very sweet young lady from Manhattan who is here to learn and participate in conservation efforts. This community picnic and play area was a bit neglected by local governments and this was a good way to help bring in some much needed attention and awareness. There were many people there from the community and student volunteers participating in this worthy project. On this property are animals which have been injured, abandoned or confiscated from people who could not take care of these animals; especially the jaguars. Normally the jaguars are off limits to the public, but on this occasion, we were allowed to go back to the enclosures and look at these big cats. They are nothing but beautiful!! We planted a tree, relaxed abit with some refreshments and had a really nice Sunday afternoon.

Kathy and I at the tree planting area after the tour of the museum, the grounds and the animals.

Kerry, Kathy, Paul's Mom, Judy and Paul from Democrats Abroad. Great group of folks!

Yep! We were that close. They had 6 jaguars and kept the males and females apart due to agressive behavior in the closed quarters, normally they are solitary creatures. They all seemed to be pretty docile, except for one which was very agitated. They are very loud when they snarl and roar. Impressive!! They hopefully will raise enough money and awareness to improve the enclosures. Let's hope they do!