amaZOOnico — Attraction in Ahuano

The canoe took an hour to arrive to take us down stream (which isnt the zoos fault) then when we got to the “rescue” someone passed us on the trail and said go to the bar to find a volunteer to give you a tour (didn’t mention where the bar was) so we wondered around from empty building to building trying to find someone and a lady got upset that we were wondering around, (with such poor signage it no wonder) she took us to one of the empty buildings and unlocked the door to the gift shop to take our entrance fee and told us to wait here for a volunteer. Our (volunteer) guide was not very knowledgeable -except about the fact that there was absolutely no touching of any of the animals. A few facts were made up or opinions were told as facts when the guide didn’t know the answer.

Small cages without to keep a mind from going crazy. As for the no human contact rule- if they’re being rehabilitated for release- I can completely understand but even our “guide” commented on how under stimulated, sad, and bored some of the animals were and I completely agree. They have so many animals there that “are unfit for release” for one reason or another but never to interact with people. Its like their in a fish bowl but with intelligence, problem solving skills, and a desire to interact it was heartbreaking. No to mention the center has parrots and a tapir that are domestic but visitors aren’t allowed near those ones. Curious toucans, Pacing ocelots and pensive primates. Then one of the Percaris was hurt but no one could be bothered with that as a monkey escaped from its enclosure while we were walking up the...

AmaZOOnico is one of those places that matters.

I have been a volunteer and professional Animal Caretaker for a few years now, having spend a multiple periods of three months at various animal rehab centers. For me AmaZOOnico stands out in how they respect animals, how they work with volunteers and how they take care of the local communities. Working at AmaZOOnico was amazing, I had chances to get educated by their inhouse Biologist about the rain forest, learn how to take care of animals and create my own stamp to leave behind. a lot of place will treat volunteers as free labor, I feel that AmaZOOnico wants you to create something to be proud of and will give you the liberty to do so if you act responsible.

The Project is distant from any big city, because you will live in the Amazon forest, but that creates a peacefulness you can't easily find. The people of AmaZOOnico treat animals as animals. They realize that they need to be treated as wild animals and not as pets. This is not a ZOO even if it's in the name (the ZOO in amaZOOnico stands for Zoologic). This project wants to reduce the amount animals in captivity and take care of a forest that needs help.

I loved being at AmaZOOnico: being a tour guide, taking care of the animals that can't be released and having fun after and during work with the other volunteers. I have made memories and...

I had a very good experience when visiting this place, the guide was very knowledgeable and answered every question, and we saw almost every animal. The "Gringos" tho behaved more like "animals" and scared the animals so we didn't get to see all of them, if you plan to visit, consider this is not a zoo where you get to scream and play with animals, this is a rescue center where you have to respect and understand the guidelines given by staff! And understand that the staff can't magically make every animal pop in front of you, you might have luck or badluck the day you visit, remember this is not a ZOO?

From Tena take a bus (tell them you want to visit the Amazoonico and they drop you off next to a river). From the river just wait for a canoe or knock on the house close to the river and Don Victor will take you there for 5$, it's a 5 ride.

The visit in rescue center doesn't take more than 2 hours and there is no food so bring some snacks. You might also plan another activitiy around the area, for example visit an indigenous village, but plan...