The 39 monkeys, South American coatis and kinkajous — also known as honey bears — that were recently rescued have found a new home in Peru.
The animals were flown from Lima to the northern city of Iquitos on a Peruvian air force transport.
From there, they were loaded on boats and taken up the Rio Nanay to a private sanctuary at Pilpintuwasi, where they were released into large fenced enclosures.
The animals are accustomed to human contact and feeding and could not be released into the wild.
The animals will be evaluated individually to determine whether they can eventually be released into the wild, said Jose Rafael Vilar, regional spokesman for the British charity Animal Defenders International, which organised the action.
This aerial photo shows the Nanay River winding through Peru’s Amazon jungle near Iquitos. (Photo: AP/Rodrigo Abd)
An Animal Defenders International worker unloads pet carriers housing monkeys, from a military aircraft at the airport in Iquitos, Peru. (Photo: AP/Rodrigo Abd)
The British charity Animal Defenders International, with the assistance of Peru’s air force and navy, organised a rehoming and a airlift from Lima, of a group of animals rescued from circuses or wild animal traffickers, to a sanctuary in Peru’s Amazon rainforest. (Photo: AP/Rodrigo Abd)
The monkey is one of more than three dozen animals rescued from Peruvian circuses and traffickers airlifted to a new home in a jungle island sanctuary. (Photo: AP/Rodrigo Abd)
With the assistance of the air force and navy, 39 monkeys, were flown from Lima to the city of Iquitos, around 600 miles northeast of the capital. The animals were then loaded on boats and taken up the river to reach the protected sanctuary. (Photo: AP/Rodrigo Abd)
More than three dozen mammals rescued from Peruvian circuses and animal traffickers, including five different species of monkeys, were airlifted from Lima to their new home at the jungle sanctuary. (Photo: AP/Rodrigo Abd)
A monkey dips its hand into a water receptacle at the Amazon Animal Orphanage in the Pilpintuwasi rainforest, near Iquitos, Peru. (Photo: AP/Rodrigo Abd)
Jan Creamer, president of Animal Defenders International, poses for a photo while holding a monkey, inside the British charity’s jungle sanctuary, in the Pilpintuwasi rainforest, near Iquitos. (Photo: AP/Rodrigo Abd)
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