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Emergency Care for Confiscated Wildlife

Help Tasikoki to care for wildlife confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade is fundraising for Yayasan Masarang (Tasikoki Wildlife Rescue Center)

I'm raising money for a cause close to my heart. Please support me this #GivingTuesday by donating to help relieve capacity issues at Tasikoki Wildlife Rescue & Education Centre.

My Story

Folks, I am asking desperately for donations to Tasikoki Wildlife Rescue and Education Centre in North Sulawesi and call to volunteers to pack your bags and come over to help. Below is a list of species of Indonesian wildlife (mostly papuan species) confiscated in the Philippines and about to be returned to Indonesia. The Ministry of Environment and Forestry does not have any facilities capable to receive all these (130+) victims of the illegal wildlife trade and so they are going to be quarantined at Tasikoki prior to "possible" transfer to other locations in Indonesia.  Tasikoki is technically already full but doing its best to try and support this important matter.  Fortunately there is enough space at the rescue to add some additional enclosures, especially aviaries for the large number of lories, parrots, cockatoos and other birds that form the majority of those to be repatriated to Indonesia.
Without more support from donors and volunteers, this is surely going to overburden the project and cause animal welfare issues to the existing wildlife as well. Support has already been requested from some big organisations, but was declined on the basis these are not highly endangered species with high priority for conservation and should just be euthanased according to IUCN guidelines. Indeed in the past, Indonesian wildlife smuggled to and confiscated in the Philippines have been euthanased there instead of repatriation to country of origin. However the Indonesian government still sees conservation value in all these (mainly lories, parrots and cockatoos) and persuaded UNDP to fund the cost of sending them home, and is also working on a solution for a Papuan wildlife rescue for the future funded by the national development agency (will take years to develop though).  Hence Tasikoki has to rely on animal welfare donations to be able to cope with this, as the government will not permit euthanisia as a management option.

Tasikoki needs support for expansion of infrastructure (decent quarantine enclosures), veterinary and medical costs (disease screening and any necessary treatments), cost of feeding wildlife (support local farmers by purchasing their produce), and contemplating hiring additional staff keepers if funds are available (support the local community with paid jobs in conservation and animal welfare) - already for the existing wildlife in care, but especially desperate with the pending repatriations from the Philippines.

Estimates of the current needs include (but not limited to);
- Additional quarantine block of 20 aviaries for large parrots and cockatoos $3000
- Additional quarantine block of 9 aviaries for raptors $2000
- Additional block of 2-4 hornbill aviaries $2000
- Additional 4 cassowary pens $2000
- Small reptile enclosures $1000
Total Infrastructure Costs = $10,000
- Feeding costs for at least 3 months @$2500/month
- Additional staffing needs (one vet and 2 keepers) @$1000/month
Total Costs of Care for 3 months = $10,500 (although care likely needed for up to a year or so)
- Veterinary health screening (laboratory) costs for clearing wildlife from disease to be able to send back to their original habitat @$100/individual
- DNA testing of certain individuals to determine exact subspecies and hence origin to select the correct region/island to return them @$200/individual
- Translocation costs to return healthy wildlife back to Papua and elsewhere for  subsequent sanctuary or release @$100/individual
Estimated Total Additional Costs = [100 x (100+100) = $20,000]  + [200 x 50 = $10,000] = $30,000

Any and all help for covering these costs is gratefully appreciated and desperately needed. From $10/month contributions to one off contributions of $1000 and all in between, all donations are needed and make a difference to the lives of these confiscated victims of the illegal wildlife trade.

Note from the Philippines;
Out of 450 individuals seized in Apr 2019, only 132 individuals are alive as of 12 Nov. The list does not include the surviving wildlife from seizures in Mar 2018 (312 individuals) and Oct 2019 (338 individuals). The repatriation is delayed on hold, maybe with a view to include the additional 300+ confiscated in October.

Anyone interested in volunteering at Tasikoki can write to [email protected] and get an info pack and further information on how to arrange it. Note that you will need to start the process at least a month in advance of travel due to special visa requirements for volunteer work in Indonesia.
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Recent Donors

  • Rebekah Liffman

    AUD 100 07/25/2020 09:02:35 PM UTC

  • Winny Winarni

    SGD 20 07/22/2020 06:14:33 AM UTC

  • Emmeline Scott

    CAD 100 07/18/2020 01:03:03 PM UTC

  • Thom

    EUR 25 01/09/2020 06:25:07 AM UTC

  • Scott Heinrichs

    Donation from Flying Fox Conservation Fund & Bat Conservation Sulawesi

    USD 300 12/26/2019 11:11:30 PM UTC

  • Nesha and Steffen

    Merry Christmas to my wildlife siblings

    USD 150 12/26/2019 10:02:11 AM UTC

  • Marie Moult

    GBP 50 12/22/2019 07:11:34 AM UTC

  • Ross Bovil

    USD 25 12/11/2019 11:36:04 PM UTC

  • Anonymous

    Good Luck!

    EUR 92 12/11/2019 08:02:37 PM UTC

  • Laura Hillman

    Merry Christmas To all the staff, volunteers and animals.

    CAD 100 12/11/2019 05:30:18 AM UTC

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