News — Iquitos

Any storm, as horrible as it can be, is sometimes followed by a beautiful rainbow. As tragic as the COVID crisis has been, it has triggered action by the municipality of Belen.

The largest wet market in the Peruvian Amazon “The Belen Market”, has been torn down and demolished ‼

As we care for Bui and the other manatees under our care, we are reminded of the circumstances which brought them to our center. All the manatees in our Center were rescued from people who had captured them illegally, and all of them had been mistreated. But none more so than Bui. In fact, it's a miracle she survived her ordeal. Her mother was killed for food, and she was locked in a cooler, to be transported for slaughter. A surprise intervention by the Environmental Police saved her life, and we were summoned to pick her up. All of this...

The Rainforest Awareness Rescue and Education Center (RAREC) is a fully licensed wildlife center operating in the Peruvian Amazon, near the city of Iquitos, Peru. Since 2011, RAREC has been working in tandem with the Peruvian government, with institutions such as the Nashville Zoo, the Pittsburgh Zoo, and the Georgia Aquarium, and with the National University of the Peruvian Amazon, in a multitude of programs aimed towards the preservation of Amazonian wildlife. Our programs have been recognized by institutions such as Merlin Entertainment, the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, by the regional government, by the national police, and by...