Pechan & Camote

I’m Pechan, and I’ve lived at the sanctuary since May 2018. I was found wandering Marino Ballena National Park with my sister. She only survived a few days after we arrived. When we were found, we both had skin infections and a fungal problem, and it’s likely our mother abandoned us because something was wrong. I imprinted on humans almost immediately, which meant I wasn’t a candidate for release. I’m also much smaller than a normal male peccary, another sign that my mother may have realized I wouldn’t survive in the wild.
Camote, my companion, arrived in February 2019 when she was about six months old, transferred from another sanctuary. She had been rejected by her natal group and hand-raised, so she imprinted on humans too. When she came here, we were introduced slowly over two weeks. We immediately became very close and attached to one another. Not long after, the vets discovered she has an enlarged heart. It makes her look a bit round and move more slowly than I do. Every morning she gets her heart medication blended into a smoothie with banana, peanuts, honey, and yucca.
Neither of us can be released. We don’t fear humans, and peccaries are still heavily hunted in this region. Out in the wild, we wouldn’t recognize danger, we’d walk right toward it. So we stay here, safe, together, and looked after.