Let's continue our tour of the Macaw Sanctuary (

Costa Rica. El Manantial - the Scarlet Macaw Sanctuary. P.1

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The birds were not fed artificially.  The staff were trying to create conditions as close to the wild as possible, so that the birds would be able to live alone in the jungle in due time, without the help of people.

As we were told, the most exciting moment for the staff is when one of the birds decides to fly away in the jungle to live independently. It is both a sad and happy moment for everyone.  

They fly pretty heavily, which is not surprising given their size.  

However, they looked even brighter during flight. I wondered how that was even possible! :)  

Even pictures taken from the back appear to be cool because they have so many brightly colored feathers.

The scarlet macaws sanctuary appeared here, thanks to a private initiative.

Even now, it is supported mainly by the local municipality.

Money from the sale of tours and souvenirs are used to maintain the sanctuary.

All the birds arrived here in different ways. They were often brought here because they were wounded or sick. Many were confiscated from smugglers. People would bring them on their own as it's not easy to keep them at home.

Anyway, this place was open to every bird, and the sanctuary aimed to help every bird.  

If only they stopped fighting one another :-)

This was real parrot kung fu. :-)

Although it seemed to me that the fights did not entail any really serious consequences.

It was more play fighting than a serious fight.  

In addition to scarlet macaws, there were many other birds in the sanctuary. Such as this one, a real high-hat - a green macaw. By the way, it was constantly spinning. It was so hard to take this picture because it was so restless.

We also found some regular birds here.  

Toucans are also rare birds and this sanctuary takes care of them.

Some birds were kept in aviaries. First of all, new birds come here all the time. They are isolated from the rest as part of the quarantine process. There were also birds that were so "domesticated" that, unfortunately, they were unable to live in other conditions.

This baby sloth was brought to the sanctuary just a few days before our arrival.

Its parents died, so it lives here, under the care of the staff. As the staff told us, it comes down from the tree about once every twelve hours. It spends most of its time in the above position. The baby is a peanut; only a few months old.

Lastly, here's another inhabitant of the sanctuary - a tapir. This is the largest mammal in the Costa Rican wildlife. By the way, we were able to feed and touch them. Perhaps, the sanctuary did not plan on releasing them into the wild :) 
This was our acquaintance with the wildlife in Costa Rica! I also have videos! You can watch it here - 

Costa Rica. Video

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