Animal Refuge is in Danger of Ending.

For the last three days I have been visiting a remote wildlife refuge project called "Tigre Salvaje" (Save the Tiger). Founded by Dave Teichmann, he has personally funded and operated this project on the Pacific for over three years now. Originally, he came with his rescued margay cat (called a tigre) hoping to protect a small portion of the wildlife in this less frequented part of Panama.

He trained and setup patrols to locate and protect nesting Olive Ridley, Green, and Leatherback marine turtles, but due to the number of poachers and feral dogs he was forced to collect the eggs. He constructed his own incubators and has hatched out around two thousand turtles so far. His area is also home to an endangered primate, the Red shouldered Squirrel Monkey. Dave often locates or is given injured or orphaned monkeys, iguanas, opossums, and other animals which he cares for.

Although he protects his area of forest, other adjacent landowners have cleared their land for pasture and poachers of monkeys and turtles have become much bolder. Dave's property offers the last contiguous forest in this area and the last refuge for troops of white-faced capuchin, howler, and squirrel monkeys. His margay, who once roamed freely on the property, must now remain caged for most of the day to protect her from hunters who frequent his property boundaries.

Dave provides conservation education for local school children and has created a conservation corp with local adults and children. He has built a small eco hotel and jungle lodges for visiting scientists and volunteers and has been pursuing a concession for the beach and a small nearby island to create a protected refuge for these animals. After three years of government requested Impact Studies and turtle studies he has run out of funds to continue this endeavor. We visited to see firsthand his project and to then determine how we can best assist him in getting funds and government support. Time is short, but we do what we can.