Diego, Miyagi, and George inhabited rivers of the Tempisque basin. They found a good and constant food source on the fish farms located close to the rivers and they were fond to visiting these properties. Scared of the presence of the animals in their farms, the owners called the authorities to handle the situation and the animals were relocated to different rivers; but they went back to their former territories. Due to this conflict and by the threat of the community to kill the crocodiles, the authorities decided that was best for the crocodiles and for the community was to locate them on a safer place where they
could be useful for environmental education. That’s how the crocodiles came to Diamante, place that they now can call home.
Bob, Dylan, Ronaldo, and Messi are all from the same species of Yellow-throated Toucans. We were all confiscated by SINAC, which the administrator in Costa Rica for the nation's national parks, conservation areas, and other protected natural areas. All of us were illegally kept as pets, or someone was attempting to smuggle us out of Costa Rica. Who would ever want to leave Costa Rica?
Nuca, Bebé, Pancha, Anastasia, Mona, Holly, Quemado, and the oldest Pancho were all at one time pets and brought to Diamante from Sinac. The authorities once formed a troop with all of us and released us in the forest, but because we were not used to search for food on the trees we look for food on the neighbors houses, scaring the people. Due to this failed attempt to release us in the forest, the authorities concluded that we were not able to survive in the forest and we were sent to places where we could be well taken care of, finally arriving at Diamante.
Hola! I am Balú, the leader of the troop. You might recognize me because I only have half of my tail. But I am still the alpha male. We are a group of White-face monkeys. My friend's names are Jerónimo, Margarita, Etiopía, Pandora, Yansy, Coquito, and Jack Jack. We had lived in different rescue centers before we were brought to Diamante by Sinac after the authorities concluded that we were not able to survive in the forest. We have so much fun here and get the most delicious food.
Mia and Diesel come from the Sloth Sanctuary, a sloth-focused rescue center located in Puerto Viejo, Limón. They got there because of different reasons. Mia was brought at a young age after being found looking alone in the river side (probably a victim of the heavy rains of that region); Diesel got there at about the same age as Mia as was brought in a dirty, dieselimpregnated sac, to the Sanctuary. He was weak and young and got to recover its energy, but as Mia, they were young and didn’t know how to survive on the environment, so they couldn’t be released. Lucy was found as an adult in an electrical wire close to houses. People called the authorities, who rescued her and took her to the Refugio Herpetológico, a rescue center in San José. They examined her and found old burnt scars on its hands and decided that releasing her in the same place was not a possibility because she will likely get electrocuted again and that was too high of a risk to take. Ziggy is daughter to Mia and Diesel. Lucy is the oldest of all the sloths.
I am Lia, I was kept as a pet and was living in a house, when I was 3 months the Sinac confiscated me and took me to a facility that could take care of me. As I was a pet I never learned to survive in the wild. My buddy, Garabito and I were both brought to Diamante from another place, and here we get daily care from experts and veterinary care. We are both healthy and happy.
Chiripa (a word that means a stroke of luck in Spanish) was rescued after being found very injured and near death. Luckily, I was treated and healed, but my injuries would not allow me to survive in the wild. Bubu, the male Ocelot, was born under the care of another center. As none of them got the abilities to survive on the wild they were brought together to keep each other company.
Lupita and Lucas, were living in the forest when they were removed to be kept as pets of a local family. The Sinac confiscated them in Ciudad Quesada and relocated them right away. As they were pets since they were kittens they never learned how to survive without human care.
The White-tailed deer is Costa Rica’s first national mammal. Some of them were kept as pets in Nicoya and the rest of them were part of a project from the Liberia penitentiary. Both groups of deer were brought by Sinac to Diamante as they needed more space and a natural setting. Most of them were underweight and needed a better diet and nutrition.
