If you would like to help us purchase land for $50 an acre, you can pay by EFT into our Westpac bank account (Account Name: Zoo Peru, Account No. 927513, BSB 036000) or use the donation button on our website (www.zooperu.com)

Please note when donating online that you must mention ‘Rainforest Rescue’ so that your donation is directed to the correct project.

For those who have already purchased tickets we will refund your ticket as soon as possible.

For further information please contact us at zooperu@hotmail.com or by phone on 9487 1337.

Prior to setting out on this quest, Antony was in contact with a wide variety of friends and associates within Peru who were all looking out for possible suitable blocks of land to show him during his brief visit. One of these people was Mr Jim King, a know logger from the region who implements selective and sustainable logging techniques. Prior to embarking on his trip to Peru, Jim was in contact with Antony and he told him that he had some land that he would consider selling to him at a fair rate.

Upon his arrival into Iquitos in the northern region of Peru, Antony visited Jim so as to gain a greater knowledge of the land that Jim had hoped to sell him. Upon a brief discussion with him, Antony became quickly aware that it was not just 100 acres beautiful secondary rainforest that Jim had hoped to sell, but 700 acres. This 700 acres of Amazon jungle, composed of 7 x 100 acre blocks, is located approximately 46 kilometres from the centre of town and 4 kilometres away from the closest sealed road off an old walking track.
After walking over and inspecting part of the land firsthand, Antony decided that this was an opportunity that Zoo Peru couldn’t pass up. So, after 6 days of gaining the proper permits and approval by other government bodies, the deal was set and Zoo Peru had access to some of the most beautiful habitat that it could ever had hoped for to continue with its conservation initiatives within the region.

2011 has been declared the International Year of Forests by the United Nations to raise awareness on sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests.  Check it out here. If you would like to sponsor an acre of rainforest donate AUS$50.00 through our secure on-line donation page.

Photo Above: Antony gazes up at just one of the many floral giants within the 700 acres of Peruvian Amazon recently acquired.

The Balen Market is found on the banks of the Itaya River just outside the centre of Iquitos. Here walking through the market one can find pretty much anything for sale from fruit and vegetables to clothing and dvd’s. But as you get deeper into the market you begin the notice something else, caged native fauna, often scared and very dehydrated readily for sale. You might be mistaken to think that it may only be a few bird species that one might see in such a market as this but pretty much every type and variety of animal, native to the region that one may imagine can be found and bought here. This fact is not only limited to the sale of live animals but to their body parts as well. Vendor after vendor will readily display and show you the skins, skulls, bones and bottled body parts that they have for sale in the hope that you may be interested.

It goes without saying that the buying/trading of live animals and their body parts is not only highly illegal but it also encourages and promotes the illegal Black Market trade of wildlife within the region and thus contributing to many species of fauna within the Amazon to become threaten with extinction.

Photo above: Antony holds an ocelot skin (Leopardus pardalis) for sale for only US$10 at the Balen Market in May, 2010