PREPARING LUNCH FOR AN OCELOT

Mmmmmm. Lunchtime. Liz and Cinde cut up beef hearts for the many animals of the Monkey Park.

When was the last time you made an all-meat lunch for an ocelot? How about slicing up a fruit snack for a group of cute marmosets (see photo below)?

If the answer is "never," get yourself immediately to the Monkey Park Foundation, a wildlife rescue center just outside of Costa Rica's popular coastal town of Tamarindo.

The Monkey Park is home to numerous animals, some formerly in captivity, and some rescued to be rehabilitated and released back into the wild. For more on what's happening with the exotic animal population in Costa Rica, read Kip's article for National Geographic.

This adorable marmoset is glad that he's not part of lunch for the Ocelot.

But, back to the ocelot lunch. 

Vanessa, the head of the park, directed us to the large pick-up truck that just arrived full of fresh fruit and meats. We loaded them into the tiny kitchen and got to work.

Liz and our new friend Cinde, who runs the Hotel Villa Amarilla, were put on beef duty, which involved carving up over 100 lbs. of beef hearts for the various birds of prey, the coyote, and of course, the ocelot. It was a bloody, messy job, but the two animal lovers were up to it. (Click here for a reminder about how much Liz loves animals.) 

Kip had the even less glamorous job of helping to cleaning out cages. But sometimes, volunteering can be a dirty job. 

Once the carnivores were cared for, we passed out fruits and veggies to the herbivores. This pig was so grateful, he gave Cinde a kiss.

Cinde gets an appreciative kiss from a happy collared peccary.

The Monkey park is not only a great place to volunteer, but it's a great place to visit as well. The park gets no government funding, and relies on donations, and the funds they earn from admission fees to feed and care for the animals.  

For directions to the park, click here. 

And, if you're interested in becoming a volunteer (after all, you will get to prepare lunch for an ocelot....we may have mentioned that twelve times already), check out their volunteer page. 

The happy volunteers and employees of the Monkey Park--Johnny, Cinde, Liz, Kip and Vanessa. 

A happy scarlet macaw eats fresh sunflower seeds out of his food puzzle Kip filled up for him.

PHOTO FRIDAY: KIP'S OCELOT IN NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

A female ocelot looks for her lunch at an animal rescue center in Costa Rica.

Actually, what National Geographic published was Kip's photo of an ocelot, together with a story he wrote about the issues Costa Rica is having caring for some of its most vulnerable animals. 

Read the full NatGeo story here, or check out the preview below. 

More next week on our time prepping lunch for an ocelot, toucan, tamarind, and spider monkey while volunteering at Costa Rica's animal-rehab centers. 
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Costa Rica Closes Zoos--Where Will the Animals Go?
Influx of captive animals has wildlife-rescue centers strapped.

By: Kip Patrick in Tamarindo, Costa Rica

for National Geographic
Published August 5, 2013

At the Monkey Park wildlife-rehab center near Tamarindo, Costa Rica, volunteers clean animal cages, wash dirty dishes, and even prepare the animals' meals.

"It's a labor of love," said Cinde Jeheber, a California native and frequent volunteer at the park. One of her duties might be cutting up fruit for the white-faced monkeys or slicing beef parts to feed to the resident ocelot.

"To be surrounded by all these amazing animals that might someday be released back into the wild—I wouldn't miss it for the world," she said. "Plus, I get to feed an ocelot!"

Yet Monkey Park and other such facilities are facing an unprecedented crunch as Costa Rica struggles with how to care for its captive wildlife, most of which will soon be without a home.

In July, the government announced controversial plans to close the country's two public zoos...

Read more here...