September 2005
November 2005
Heroes to Animals 2005
February 2006
April 8, 2006
April 24, 2006
May 2006
The Millicent Martinez Kondracke Scholarship
June 9, 2006
July 6, 2006
August 30, 2006
October, 2006
November, 2006
January 16, 2007
April 18, 2007
July 2007
October 2007

May 2006

Nearly ten years ago the country of Nicaragua was forced to cut all funding to El Zoologico Nacional – the country's national zoo. An amazing couple - Marina Arguello de Sacasa and Eduardo Sacasa Urguyo, who lived near the zoo, volunteered to try and keep the animals alive by providing them with daily care and food. Marina and Eduardo left their jobs and began an almost unimaginable task – they would need to raise enough money to feed nearly 600 animals daily while also feeding, cleaning and caring for the animals. In the decade since their adventure began the couple has worked between 18 and 20 hours daily to keep the animals safe, fed and healthy. Marina and Eduardo have not only kept the animals alive; they have developed wildlife education programs for the children of Nicaragua, developed the location into a refuge for abandoned, orphaned and abused wildlife in the Managua area and worked tirelessly to raise the money and awareness necessary to provide the animals in their care with ample space for exercise. It is inspiring to hear the stories of some of the more than 500 mammals or birds that were safely released back into the wild by El Zoologico Nacional in 2005.



Bertha Valle (Canal 2 Managua), Marina Sacasa
and Eduardo Urguyo with slingshots collected from
children.

PATH board member and veterinarian Betsy
VanderVelde with orphaned ocelot kitten.

The government of Nicaragua has been able to restore some funding to El Zoologico Nacional; this government funding still accounts for only 10 percent of the zoo’s annual budget. Marina and Eduardo still struggle to raise the funds necessary to provide the animals with an appropriate diet. It is only through creativity that the couple has found methods to exercise and safely house the animals. Despite their truly heroic efforts, Marina and Eduardo desperately need help. The urbanization of Nicaragua and the still growing international wildlife trade are bringing more and more orphaned and abandoned animals to the zoo. Approximately half of the animal habitats are without running water and many of the orphaned animals have to spend time in inadequately sized cages. The zoo staff operates without a single tranquilizer gun; meaning, if an animal were to stray from an enclosure, it might be necessary for it to be shot with a regular gun to protect staff or park visitors.

In a perfect world there would be no zoos. The animals in El Zoologico Nacional have never lived in a perfect world. During two days at the zoo I did not see any animals display signs of abuse, stress or lack of care. I did witness a lion, abandoned by a Russian circus when he became ill in Nicaragua living a healthy and enriched life. I met a beautiful leopard that had been born without a front limb – an animal that instead of being destroyed because an exotic breeder could not sell it for economic gain now is living a safe and secure life. I watched as volunteers prepared food for and fed an infant monkey whose mother had been killed by a slingshot. I held a six-month-old ocelot that had been rescued from a roadside animal dealer by the Managua police. The world we live in is far from perfect, especially for nonhuman species in economically challenged geographic areas.


Bertha Valle (of Canal 2’s Primera Hora),
one of Nicaragua’s strongest advocates for
animals and PATH’s spokesperson.

PATH executive director Kelly Overton getting
a kiss.

PATH has provided El Zoologico Nacional with a gift of $900 to assist with animal care and feeding for the month of April. The animals are desperately in need of three water pumps to provide running water to all animal enclosures in the park. The staff has identified a tranquilizer gun as the animals' number one priority. The presence of a modern tranquilizing method will ease the staff’s greatest fear, a fear that they may have to one day kill one of the animals they love in order to protect themselves or a park visitor. PATH has committed to designing, launching and hosting a website for El Zoologico Nacional. The website will allow the zoo to expand its wildlife education program and to share information about the animals of Nicaragua with the nation’s children and adults. PATH and El Zoologico Nacional need your help to secure the water pumps, a modern tranquilizing method, the design and maintenance of a website (PATH will host) and any additional funds possible for food, enclosure expansion and emergency veterinary care. The water pumps will run nearly $1,200; the tranquilizer gun approximately $1,000; and the web design can cost nothing, if you are, or know, the right volunteer. All funds donated will go to providing the animals of El Zoologico Nacional with these desperately needed items. If everyone on this mailing list donated $4 today the above items can be in use within 30 days. You can donate using this link http://www.justgive.org/giving/donate.jsp?charityId=17787 , or by mailing a check made out to PATH, to the address below.

If you are interested in assisting with the design and maintenance of the website, please email me at animalpath@aol.com or call (617) 354-2826.

Please help in any way you can!

Thank you,

Kelly Overton, MPH
Executive Director
People Protecting Animals & Their Habitats – PATH Inc.
43 Wendell Street
Suite 4
Cambridge, MA 02138

617-354-2826

www.ppath.org
animalpath@aol.com