Maruja, a South American tapir, arrived at RAREC in December 2017. Before that, she had been kept as a pet by an elderly local resident. Realizing they couldn’t provide the proper care she needed, they made the responsible decision to contact RAREC for help.

At our center, Maruja was given a spacious, custom-built habitat with a pool where she loved to swim. She especially enjoyed rainy days and eagerly welcomed brushes from our volunteers.

Maruja was transferred to a designated prerelease enclosure, a larger and more natural environment with minimal human interaction. In this large, enclosed area, she learned to forage for food on her own and responding to potential threats.. After months of careful monitoring, she demonstrated that she was fully capable of thriving independently.

In 2020, Maruja was successfully released back to the amazonian rainforest where she now lives freely in her natural habitat.