Silvia Simmone
redaccion-er@miradorprovincial.com

A few miles from Columbus, in the Colonia San Anselmo, is the Foundation Tekove Mymba,, a site that claims to be an animal sanctuary designed for the species that spent most of his life in a situation of captivity, to live the years he has left in freedom and in a natural habitat similar to that of its biome of origin.

Juan Manuel Paccot, a biologist and founder of the project, which began in 2015, explained that during the 2019 obtained the category of Foundation and managed to get through direct donation by the estate of 1,200 hectares, almost half of the total area of the city of Columbus, in which today is located the sanctuary.

The Foundation Tekove Mymba, which in guaraní means Animal Lifeit consists of about fifteen people in Colón, San Jose, and Villa Elisa, which include biologists, veterinarians and inspectors of control working together for the location and protection of the species arriving at the site. Currently in the sanctuary there are approximately 30 animals, including a colony of 20 primates, a jack, a tibetan who was brought back from the zoo of Silver, and for this year it is planned to perform transfers of grizzly bears, hippos, elephants, and deer, among other species.

- What is it that characterizes an animal sanctuary?

-It is called sanctuary because it is the final place for the withdrawal of the animals from the zoos and because these sites are given a place of semi-freedom, so that they can develop their life naturally. It is for this that does not allow man-made interventions, those places are not open to the public because they are spaces that do not have profit-making. Once the animals arrive, the only thing that we do is to make an observation to make sure they are okay and if they need help they provide, but the idea is that no intervention, to respect the life of animals.

- How do you create the conditions necessary to accommodate the different species?

-We what we do is to delimit the area and assemble the venues where they will be staying, because the good thing is that we don't have to modify much the environment because those who arrive are animals that lived all their lives or born in captivity, so they are accustomed to the temperature and humidity in this part of the map. Most of the species that are today in the zoos are fourth or fifth generation, is born there because brought from the outside because there are no more, then you are super fit. In addition, in entre Ríos, we have a weather condition that is optimal, because it's not too cold or heat, and the vegetation is also helpful in the gallery forest and the native flora that is very important. Another advantage is that in this site we have many biomes, there are areas with meadows and other grasslands, there are hills and also blades. And to make the venues we are playing with these things, because in addition to the limit of the Uruguay river, the arroyo Urquiza, and within the sanctuary, spend two streams that are born of slope here.

Beginnings and challenges

What began as a regional working for the protection and relocation of species that were a product of the traffic of native flora and fauna, resulted in a massive action that lies at the Foundation as the sole depository legal in Argentina for the shelter of animals seized in police operations. Paccot stressed that "all the animals end up coming here because they have no other place. In two years we grew enormously because in 2017 we only had a small estate that is at the bottom of this sanctuary, which today serves to house the animals that come to the forfeiture rural. In that time we have met Daniela Cardone, which is like the godmother of our Foundation, to whom we told him about the work that we were doing and the ideas that we had with Tekove Mymba for the protection of the species in captivity and she helped us in all the steps to get to put the sanctuary."

- And what motivated them to push forward the project?

-We find ourselves with a problem. The first reason was that we realized that the shrines that came from other continents to move animals were a circus, because they were brought here on the pretext of giving them a better quality of life, but in reality they were responding to a large-negotiated, they sought to reintroduce species that they had always lived in Latin america, with the climatic conditions here, in places as far away as North America or Europe. The animals were suffering a lot of stress on transfers because these involve great journeys in the journey, but they also have costs millionaires because to move an animal there are many conditions that must be met and there is a business that involves people and companies. On the other hand, came about because in Argentina shut down most of the zoo but the animals that were there also remained in captivity, and if cared little when they were enabled to the public, just imagine how are the conditions after the close. Animals die and no one learns.

- What and how to perform the procedures for the transfer of the species?

-The truth that is all very complex because of us beyond being the first shrine of Latin america, five years ago that we have been fighting against the trafficking of wildlife and we have discovered that the zoo sold the animals as bodies of hunting. Vos in Argentina you can go to hunt a tiger or whatever you can think of to a value of 70 % cheaper than if you go to the US or to the place of origin of the animals. That is the business because there are many trafficking networks that operate in the country. Between Rivers, for example, is one of the central points of traffic, because we are in the center, then when you leave or enter the animals pass by here. Other places are Formosa, Misiones and the whole area of the north. But the trafficking networks are very complicated, we are behind important data, we investigated in different places of Argentina, with the means that we have, but what happens is that those who traffic are more knowledgeable than us to such transactions and in that business comes a lot of important people who even has put institutional strategic, then it is not so easy, because to bring the animals to the sanctuary touches many interests.

- Under what conditions would arrive the animals that are in captivity?

-They are usually triggered because stress is something that the animal can't handle. When they get here you can watch all the impacts in their bodily conditions, for example, the monkeys in their genetics are almost equal to humans, they suffer from the same symptoms that we: gastrointestinal problems, falling out of the hair, are nervous, but the difference is that the man has a heart and a liver is much larger which allows us to manage these situations for a longer time, and to them, with very little of the mark.

Direct labor

Among the main tasks that are developed today in the sanctuary are setting up the venues for the arrival of the species that will be transferred during the year from several zoo national. "To create habitats we are governed by a series of international regulations that tell us how to proceed. For example if I want to bring grizzly bears, in the regulation says how it has to be public and which security measures have to be. In this case, the regulation says that for this species the place has to be of 3 thousand square meters, and we are going to do an area of 300 thousand square meters, because as a sanctuary, that we seek is to give the animal a space for you to actually have a decent life," said the biologist.

In addition, during this last year, worked in conjunction with the Association Primatológica Argentina to create the First Center Primatológico of the country, as the monkeys are the second species most trafficked at the international level, ranking in the first place, the traffic of birds. Paccot indicated that with this bet seek to provide a space for primates who are rescued from trafficking networks or confiscated in households, to have a place to rehabilitate wildlife, before being released into their natural habitat.

"When the primates come to Tekove Mymba, the first thing we do is to bring them to a place of presuelta that are enclosures jungle that are in the premises, which are covered by networking giant on the trees. In that place he is taught the monkey to go back to being a monkey, that's why we work mostly on your diet, because although most people think that monkeys eat bananas, they actually feed on 80% with leaves and grass, are entirely herbivores and winter tend to consume fruits or seeds native to climb up the calories. Then in the period of presuelta them we teach what leaves can be eaten, to take water from the stream, because they genetically have all that information that tells them how to act like wild animals. After this stage the liberated completely, and this can be done because one of the features that has the monkey in captivity, is that he never leaves his home, then in the area of pre-release we will put homes with woods and then they are the very same ones that we installed in the gallery forest when we release, so we know that they are going to move in a radius of 500 or 1000 meters, but that they will return to the territory where we leave you, that is one of the ways to keep the colonies under control", said the biologist.

Bet educational

The activities developed by the Foundation from five years ago are being extended to all schools in entre Ríos, where he teaches children about native flora and fauna, but also performs a work of awareness on the implications of the traffic and the retention of wild species in the homes. "Although it may seem incredible to work with the guys is very productive, because many of the calls that we receive in the Foundation are the parents of these children that identify neighbors that have wild animals as pets. We believe that the generations to come, bring environmental consciousness that is your own time, then we are also going to schools and install orchards where we teach them how to cultivate and about native plants," said Paccot.

On the other hand, had come to this means that during this year's activities will take place in conjunction with the National University of La Plata, where biologists and agronomists will be able to perform some of their practices in the sanctuary.

Future projects

One of the bets most innovative, being developed in Tekove Mymba is the installation of web cameras in the premises from where you can observe online the habitat and the natural behavior of the species that there will be accommodated. From the organization detailed that one of the objectives of this action is that the people participate in the work they do there, as the property is not open to the public and if there is any reason to visit, people never come into contact with animals because the site is mapped to avoid human interference in the habitats established.

Also, at the national level, it is projected that Tekove Mymba to become the first native plant nursery for reforestation of forests of argentina, something that, as indicated from the Foundation, it interacts closely with the objectives of the National Forests Act.