Toucan Rescue Ranch: An Amazing Sloth and Wildlife Sanctuary

Some sanctuaries out there aren't all that they claim to be. They operate under the guise of "sanctuary" when they're simply a tourist attraction looking to make money off the backs of captive wild animals. Thankfully, the Toucan Rescue Ranch is the real deal.

This sanctuary does so much good and I'm so pleased to share this wonderful organization with you. Admire and learn about rescued toucans, sloths and other wildlife. There isn't a sloth selfie in sight.

In fact, you'll learn about all the reasons why you should never hug a sloth during an educational tour of the property. I took a tour of the Toucan Rescue Ranch on my 7 day trip to Costa Rica. I learned about their mission to rescue, rehabilitate and release animals back to the wild.

About the Toucan Rescue Ranch

The goal of the Toucan Rescue Ranch is to rescue, rehabilitate and release Costa Rican wildlife back into the wild. The founders, Leslie Howle and Jorge Murillo, started the Toucan Rescue Ranch back in 2004 aiming to help toucans.

Many of the sick, injured, displaced and confiscated animals (victims of wildlife trafficking) come from the Costa Rican government agency, Ministry of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica (MINAE). When MINAE noticed how successful the toucan rescue and release program was, they brought more species of birds to the Toucan Rescue Ranch.

In 2007, MINAE brought its first sloth to the Toucan Rescue Ranch named Millie. With the introduction of Millie, Toucan Rescue Ranch transformed from a toucan rescue center into a multi-species wildlife rehabilitation center.

Nowadays, Toucan Rescue Ranch is home to many species of native wildlife, including wild cats, porcupines, kinkajous, weasels, parrots, monkeys and others. At its core, Toucan Rescue Ranch specializes in care for toucans, owls and sloths, with specialized rehabilitation programs for each.

In addition, Toucan Rescue Ranch has captive breeding programs for all six species of Costa Rican toucans. They also have breeding programs for owls, like native Striped Owls, Barn Owls, Pygmy Owls and Mottled Owls.

Toucan Rescue Ranch takes great care to only breed birds that are released into the wild, and these birds do not have human contact to ensure that they stay wild. They're the only organization in Costa Rica (and second in the world) to successfully release captive-bred Emerald Toucanets.

An Educational Tour of the Toucan Rescue Ranch

The Toucan Rescue Ranch offers educational tours both onsite and virtually. When I traveled to Costa Rica, I visited the Toucan Rescue Ranch in person for a two hour guided tour.

You'll need to purchase a ticket in advance from their website in order to take any of their tours. Please note that the sanctuary is closed on Mondays. You can take a tour in English or Spanish.

After a quick orientation and history about the Toucan Rescue Ranch, join your knowledgeable guide as you meet the permanent residents. You won't meet any of the toucans, sloths or other wildlife that are being rehabilitated for release back into the wild. It's important these animals have little to no human interaction so they can become wild once again.

The permanent residents at the Toucan Rescue Ranch serve as ambassadors for their species. A walk around the sanctuary introduces you to sloths, parrots, toucans, spider monkeys, weasels, cats and more.

The guides will teach you about the sanctuary's mission and goals, as well as details about each individual species. You can also ask as many questions as you'd like on the way. This walking tour takes place in a beautiful garden with many native species of plants and flowers.

Of course, this is completely a "hands off" experience with no touching or handling of any wildlife, ever. I love how the Toucan Rescue Ranch is a leader in the #StopAnimalSelfies movement and highlights how its visitors can practice and embrace ethical wildlife tourism.

Partnership with the Sloth Institute of Costa Rica

Toucan Rescue Ranch has a partnership with the Sloth Institute of Costa Rica called Saving Sloths Together. By combining forces, the Sloth Institute of Costa Rica and the Toucan Rescue Ranch aim to provide every sloth with a second chance at living in the wild.

Their goals are three-fold: research initiatives regarding captive and wild sloths, collaborations with other sanctuaries and organizations that help sloths worldwide, and education about treating sloths responsibly to the general public.

Toucan Rescue Ranch has a program for rescue, rehabilitation and release that they call "Sloth University". There are a number of different stages that a sloth must pass in order to determine whether or not they are a good candidate for release back into the wild.

There are many reasons why sloths become permanent residents at the Toucan Rescue Ranch. Some sloths rely on humans too much for food and care and will never be able to be released back into the wild. There are also many success stories of sloths living happily back in the wild after going through Sloth University.

Why Do Sloths Need our Help?

Sloths need our help. They need tall trees in order to survive. Habitat destruction and growing housing developments for humans are negatively impacting sloth populations.

Coupled with the illegal wildlife trade and sloths taken from the wild for roadside zoos, tourist selfies, and even as pets, sloths are in danger. While sloths aren't an endangered species just yet, they are on the road to becoming endangered.

What can we do? Support organizations like the Toucan Rescue Ranch. Only give your tourism dollars to reputable sanctuaries when you travel to Costa Rica or other places in Central America. Don't visit unreputable places that allow you to hold or hug sloths.

Why Should I Never Hold a Sloth?

You will not ever have the opportunity to hold or hug a sloth at the Toucan Rescue Ranch. This is for the well-being of the sloths, of course.

If you ever visit a "sanctuary" or a zoo that allows you to hold or hug sloths, it's an immediate red flag that this is not a good place for the animals and you should not support it. I'm so grateful that the Toucan Rescue Ranch shares these facts about holding or hugging sloths with its visitors.

Providing education is key. Most people don't know that you shouldn't hold a sloth and when presented with the chance, how could you resist? They're so cute!

Please, never, never, never hug a sloth or take a selfie with a sloth. It is very stressful for a sloth to be touched by humans. Can you imagine how stressful it would be for them to be passed from human to human, hundreds of times every day?

How to Recognize a Reputable Sanctuary

Just because a property is labeled as a sanctuary doesn't mean that it actually is one. Unfortunately, there are many places that call themselves animal sanctuaries around the world that are far from it.

World Animal Protection has developed an easy to follow checklist to determine whether or not a sanctuary is genuine or not. Starting with the question of, "where do the animals come from", we want to make sure that the animals are not taken from the wild unless they are injured.

Furthermore, they should not be in the business of buying and selling animals. The organization won't breed animals unless they are being released into the wild to help their populations increase. Finally, the sanctuary will not accept more animals than it can properly manage.

The animals have proper care and access to veterinarians 24/7, and the staff members have the proper training to care for the animals on a daily basis. The sanctuary should never use wild animals for entertainment purposes (shows, tricks, rides, selfies and hugs) and they should not have animals to make a profit.

Simply put, a reputable sanctuary solely exists to help animals and provide care for them. The best sanctuaries take care of animals that cannot be released back into the wild, and rehabilitate and release the ones that can be.

In addition to the Toucan Rescue Ranch, I volunteered at ARCAS in Guatemala helping to rehabilitate rescued wild animals. They're an amazing organization. If you'd like to volunteer helping animals in Guatemala, take a look at my blog post for more details and check out the volunteer program offered by Animal Experience International (this is what I did and I loved it!).

How to Help the Toucan Rescue Ranch

There are a number of ways to help the Toucan Rescue Ranch. Visiting this sanctuary provides tourism dollars and financial assistance for the rescue center. You can also donate or symbolically adopt an animal to donate towards its care. If you can't travel to Costa Rica right now, sign up for a virtual tour through their website.

Toucan Rescue Ranch is looking for volunteers and interns! You must be able to commit to at least four weeks / 20 days of volunteering, though they prefer you to volunteer for a longer amount of time if it's possible.

By volunteering, you'll be working for the wildlife and providing care for the animals. Here are more details about the volunteer program at Toucan Rescue Ranch.

While I haven't volunteered here (I only visited for the tour), I've volunteered helping animals in Guatemala and Kenya in the past. It's an extremely rewarding experience and I highly recommend it.