Raul

My name is Raul. I was confiscated by MINAE after being kept in someone’s house. They claimed they found me alone, but based on how I behaved, it was obvious I’d been with them for quite a while. I was still a juvenile when I was brought to the sanctuary.

At the time, there were other toucans here going through rehabilitation, and the team hoped I could learn normal toucan behavior from them and become less attached to humans. But even after spending time with the group, I still tried to jump onto people and interact whenever they came to feed or clean. When they attempted to release all of us together, I was the only one who came back.

After a lot of discussion, the vet team and staff decided it wasn’t safe to release me. I wouldn’t survive on my own, and I’d likely seek out humans for food. So I was moved to the sanctuary as a permanent resident. They would have preferred to see me return to the wild, that’s always the goal, but for me, this was the responsible choice.