The Jungle Fund

We here at Jungle Encounters are dedicated to wildlife conservation and because of this dedication, we wanted to make a direct impact on animals in the wild. That is how the Jungle Fund show came to be. This show focuses its attention on teaching people about small wild cats, how they survive in the wild, what they prey on, their conservation issues and current projects to help protect them in the wild.

Confiscated baby ocelot that was raised & released back into the wilds of Ecuador

We have picked 3 current conservation projects in different parts of South America that focus their attention on small cat conservation. The people who run these projects are in the field, working hands on to make a better life for these small wild cats. The Jungle Fund was established to perform small wild cat shows to raise awareness about the 26 species of small cats around the world and to collect donations to send to these projects. 100% of the money donated by people and 80% of the money received as payment for doing these shows (excluding traveling fees) goes directly to research, rescue, rehabilitation and releasing these cats back into the wild where they belong.

THE SHOW:

The show is 1 hour, we bring 1 or 2 hybrid cats (a Savannah and a Bengal), 2-3 other wild animals that would either co-exist or interact with the small cats in the wild and some information people can take with them about the projects we are supporting. We will teach people about each animal we bring, discuss the conservation problems the wildcats face, and introduce everyone to the projects that were established to help save the small wild cats. This show was created to be interesting, informative, fun and with the hopes of raising awareness about small cat conservation. You and the people at your show can be directly involved with helping these wild cats by hiring us to do a Jungle Fund show!

This type of show is not available for all types of events, please call us for details.

CONSERVATION PROJECTS:

1. Choco Rainforest Protection Project - Help save the ocelots, jaguarundis, oncillas, margays and now monkeys of South America!

Margay	Ocelot

The Choco Rainforest Protection Project (CRPP) encompasses a group of reserves in Ecuador. The natives have formed an alliance and are dedicated to protecting their prestine rainforest from deforestation due to loggers, squatters, etc. Jungle Encounters has teamed up with their Wildlife Center Director, Tracy Wilson, to raise money to help rescue, rehabilitate and release the native small cats & monkeys back into the wild. 80% of the money raised from doing our shows will be sent to the reserve to be used to pay for any of the cat and monkey related expenses that will aid in the them being released back into the wild. These expenses include, but aren't limited to their food, bedding, cages, care-taker salary, medicines, formula, etc.
If you would like to make a donation to this fund without having a show, please send a check payable to Earthways Foundation and mail it to us at Jungle Encounters PO Box 108 Uxbridge, MA 01569. We will forward it to Earthways who will assign the money to the Wildlife Center for cat or monkey expenses. If you would like your donation to be tax deductible, please make a note telling us this and attach it to your check. We will send that info along with your money and Earthways will mail you a receipt. (Earthways Foundation is an organization that is tax exempt and who helps fund and collect funds for numerous conservation projects across the world. Jungle Encounters is not a tax exempt company, therefore we are using Earthways so people can make tax deductible donations if they so desire). To find out more about Earthways, log onto their website at www.earthways.org. To find out more about the CRPP log onto www.touchthejungle.org/ReserveHistory.htm.

11/07 update: we have expanded our family of animals to include a Marmoset and Tamarin (small monkeys), which we will use in these shows to help increase our conservation efforts for primates and small cats!

By donating to this project, you will make a difference in these wonderful animals wild lives!

2. The Andean Mountain Cat Project - help save the Andean Mountain Cat of Chile!

Andean Mountain Cat

The Andean Mountain Cat is believed to live in the high elevations of the Andean Mountains of Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Argentina.   Jungle Encounters has teamed up with field researcher, Jim Sanderson of Small Cat Conservation Alliance (SCCA). Jim has dedicated his life to doing field research on small wild cats so we can have a better understanding of them. This enables us to make educated decisions on how to protect the cats, their habitat and how to make a better life for them. Donations to this fund will go directly towards Jim's current research project in the Andean Mountains to help save this cat.

3/08: I met with Jim in March and he is on his way to an Andean Mountain Cat meeting to speak with other specialists about how to best move forward with this project. We will hopefully see some exciting progress from this meeting!

To find out more about SCCA, Jim and his projects, log onto www.smallcats.org
By donating to this project, you will make a difference in the Andean Mountain Cats wild lives!

3. The Guigna Project
The Guigna is the smallest wild cat in the western hemisphere.

Guigna

The Guigna is the smallest wild cat of the Americas. It lives in Chile and the Chiloe Island. Jim has an on-going project to help save the Guigna. Any donations we send to this project will go towards Guigna field research (camera traps, observations in the wild, raising local awareness about the cat, etc). A man by the name of Fernando lives in Guigna territory and is the only person believed to have Guignas in captivity. He works with the local government and rescues Guignas that have been poached or hurt. He now has an unreleasable breeding group of Guigna. The plan for this project is to breed them and use the hand raised Guigna as Ambassadors to teach the locals about them. Once the native people are familiar with them and understand their critical status in the wild, they will hopefully try to help them. The donations we send to Jim for the Guigna project will mainly go to this captive breeding program. I will keep you posted as to the progress of this amazing program!

By donating to this project, you will make a difference in the guigna cats wild lives!

For all of the above projects, 80% of the money we receive for doing this show will go directly to help save these wild cats in the form of cat care and field research.
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The Jungle Fund is dedicated to helping conserve the small wild cats of the world by teaching the public to respect and love these animals through our educational outreach programs. We challenge you, the public, to help us help wildlife.

FACT: We are losing up to a dozen plant and animal species every day due mainly to pollution, ignorance and habitat destruction.

PROBLEM: Most zoos do not have small wild cats to display for people to see and learn about. Most people aren't aware that there are 26 known species of small wild cats in the world and most of them are the same size or smaller than our domestic house cats.

SOLUTION: Jungle Encounters has geared it's focus to help support and save these precious small cats by educating the public about them in hopes to spread awareness and respect for these animals. Once people learn about them, they are more willing to learn about their critical conservation issues and will want to help them. This isn't a total solution to the conservation problem, but by teaming up with other wildlife conservationists interested in the same species, we will make a big difference. You too can make a difference by being concerned and contributing your time or funds to help us with this worthy cause. Stay informed of conservation issues and efforts and tell others you know about them. Other ways you can help:

- recycle and conserve electricity & water
- refinish old wood furniture, rather than buying new
- don't waste paper
- don't use aerosol sprays
- don't litter

CONSERVATION ISSUES:

1. Habitat Destruction
Around 1900 the human population was 1.5 billion.
In 2006, the human population is about 6.5 billion.
The forests that once covered much of the earth are disappearing at an alarming rate. We have already cut down over half of the forests in the world. Wild animals are losing their habitat at an unbearable rate. Those that aren't losing their habitat yet are being exposed to pollution caused by humans and are being illegally poached.

Remember, furniture and paper both come from trees. Refinish old beat up furniture rather than buying new; recycle paper and use it wisely. These are 2 easy things all of us can do and they make a direct
impact on the # of trees loggers cut down from rainforests. Each tree can house many species of wildlife from insects to birds to plants to mammals.

Donations to these funds don't have to be large. Small donations are just as important as large ones. For example, it costs around $50 to buy a camera to put in the wild. This camera will automatically take pictures of any animal that sets off it's motion beam. This helps the field researchers determine how many cats and other wildlife there is living in an area. These #s are crucial to conservation efforts. In the past these cameras have taken pics of cats with their babies, which is a wonderful thing! Imagine, if you donate a mere $20 and 2 other people in the country do the same, a camera could be set up and capture new information for researchers to analyze and use to improve conservation efforts! You would be making a better life for future moms and their babies!