Kinkajou

This morning we took the bus South of Cuenca to meet Teresa. The instructor for our fifth course of the semester, Tropical Ecology. The directions to her place went something along the lines of get on the number 13 south, get off at the intersection and jump on the number 3. Get off at the third pig roasting on a spit at the side of the road. If I hadn?t had Coral to direct us I have no idea where we would have ended up!

Teresa raises German Shepards, and we were met by the barking of at least a dozen of these beasts out back. She also happens to raise and shelter many other creatures, perhaps less fierce but certainly more wild. Parrots and macaws, kinkajous and ocelots, and even some spectacled bears. Her and her husband who is a wildlife film documentary cameraman met out of mutual passions for wildlife and wild places. He is currently down in the Amazon shooting macaws at a clay lick deep in the muggy heat and then off to film jaguars and caimans in Brazil?s pantanal. He is shooting a film for the BBC. I cannot wait to meet and talk with him more when he finally returns. For now we were given a tour of the wildlife, all rescued and brought to Teresa, where they are sheltered or rehabilitated. Gorgeous creatures all, but they lose their magic in captivity. That spark in the eye is replaced by a tame vacancy. Still I respect their compassion and courage to take on such a noble endeavor and even more their amazing work together. A life as she showed us in pictures, of wild creatures and wild places all over Ecuador and South America.

I snapped this shot of a kinkajou sleepy eyed nibbling on mangos. I used to see these guys all the time when I led night walks through the forests in Costa Rica years ago catching their golden eye shine in the light high up in the canopy. Sometimes lower to Earth as well, looking up to find a kinkajou hanging by its tail upside down munching on guava and papaya or hearing their raucous chatter over my rooftop at night. Kinkajous are some of my favorites! This fellow in a cage out of his wild element doesn?t give justice to the wild night time acrobatics of these creatures but at least if you?ve never seen a kinkajou?well there you go! It?s a start.