TORONTO -- Despite calls for Canadians abroad to return home, one Alberta man decided to stay in Costa Rica for the time being, where he is volunteering at an animal shelter for monkeys.
Matthew Halfacre of Edmonton travelled to Cabuya, Costa Rica in early February for a planned months-long trip to volunteer at the Wild Sun Rescue Center, which works to rehabilitate and release wild animals -- including monkeys, iguanas and birds -- back into the wild.
As the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread in North America, Halfacre watched as several volunteers decided to head home, while few people remained to take care of the orphaned animals.
“Costa Rica closed their borders and we weren't able to get any more volunteers," he told CTV News.
It was then that the 26-year-old decided -- despite the Canadian government’s urging and his family’s concern -- that he would stay behind and help out the shelter.
“My family did message me but I just told them the animals need care,” he said.
The Wild Sun Rescue Center is now down to just nine volunteers and with Costa Rica closing off its borders, reinforcements aren’t expected any time soon. Before the local airport closed, the centre even offered free flights to those interested in helping out.
The facility specializes in monkey rehabilitation, with around 30 currently in their care. Many of these monkeys were electrocuted after climbing around on uninsulated power lines.
Baby monkeys that arrive at the centre typically need to stay until they are about three years old, before they can be released into the wild.
“We get a lot of babies,” said Natasha Hamilton, manager of the Wild Sun Rescue Center. “Their mothers have been electrocuted while they were still small and holding onto her body. She will more often than not take the brunt of the shock and be killed.”
The centre also reintroduced 10 scarlet macaws back into the wild last year after 50 years of near extinction in the area.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, the rehabilitation centre has found it increasingly difficult to feed the animals, as they had previously relied on food scraps from restaurants that are now closed.
"We've had to go forgaging...but it is mango season, so we're quite a few mangoes," Halfacre said.
Money has also become an issue. The centre relied upon charging volunteers to stay at their on-site hotel, but those who decided to stay and help have been offered free housing as a thanks.
“We're just indebted to those people," Hamilton said. "They have such a passion for this project and these animals.”
As of Sunday, Costa Rica has 660 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including five deaths.
