The region of Madre de Dios has been declared in emergency state due to the floodings that have been occurring and continue to affect the population. The latest report from the Home, Sanitation, and Construction Directive registered a total of 11 220 affected people, and 2 800 flooded homes.
The victims of the river overflows are still being evacuated to public schools serving as temporary shelter. There’s been a total of 13 roadways that have been flooded (with some patches completely out of service), as well as 17 affected bridges, 3 of which having been rendered unusable.
Fotos: Pavel Martiarena
But the situation doesn’t only affect us humans and our infrastructure. The rescue centers housing the local wildlife have been severely impacted by this event – such are the cases of the Taricaya Rescue Center and the Amazon Shelter.
Some of the animals have simply died with the floodings, while others have been rescued and are currently being relocated.
In Taricaya they report having lost two owls, and that they’re still looking after three nocturnal monkeys, an emperor tamarin, 8 parakeets, 5 adult macaws and 2 fledglings, as well as a baby spider monkey. They require the continuous construction of temporal platforms ever more elevated for the animals to stay dry and safe.
Fotos: IG Taricaya Eco Reserve
In ARBIO we started a campaign to help out with food supplies for the victims. We managed to gather the support of over 40 people, and the raised funds have been delivered for humanitarian help in Puerto Maldonado. We’ve distributed them with the help of (and through) Roy Riquelme, an Amazonic chef who is dedicating his time and efforts to the kitchens set up in the public schools-turned-shelters along with the Slow Food Tambopata group; and Kerenda Zambrano, whose presence in the Tambopata corridor is very important to help the people of that area.
It’s time to support our relatives, the animals. The Taricaya center needs funds not only for food supplies, but also to recover their infrastructure.
Starting today, the acquired funds will be redirected to this purpose: solidarity with the animals.
You can donate starting from S/.20 here: