Collaring a jaguar
ARCAS
Overflowing with wildlife, ARCAS asks for help
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The municipality of San Lucas has offered us a piece of land there and we are raising money for the construction. But it’s going to take time. If anyone is interested in helping out, it would be much appreciated.”
by Matt Bokor
Receiving hundreds of animals each year at its three sites in Guatemala, ARCAS also faces a downside: not enough space, especially at its San Lucas location just outside Guatemala City.
The San Lucas center surged with new arrivals in 2016 as the deadline approached for registering any collection of wild animals in Guatemala. The requirement was part of a law passed in 2015 to close a gaping loophole for wildlife trafficking that has been open since the Protected Areas Law went into effect in 1989.
“It’s a real crisis for us,” said Colum Muccio, the NGO’s administrative director. “We are working on building a new office in Cerro Alux.
Over 40 additional animals of various species, primarily red-fronted
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stablished in 1989 to rescue wild birds and animals, especially endangered species, the Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Association (known as ARCAS, its Spanish acronym) has grown into one of the most complete rescue centers in the world.