News

#runningforwanicare by Willemijn Eggen

01 October 2021 – Support Wanicare during the Seven Hills run (the Official ZevenHeuvelenLoop)! On Sunday 21 November 2021 the Zevenheuvelen loop will be organized again. Therefore I will run 15 km over 7 hills around Nijmegen to raise money for the wild animals in Cikananga, which we have been involved with for the past 12 years. As the founder of Wanicare, I am training together with my husband Roel Jansen, in order to collect money for the Wanicare Foundation.
Due to Corona, the wild animal rescue center in Cikananga is going through a difficult time. We sincerely hope to raise a very nice amount, now that we have to do it without the usual income. In Cikananga we currently care for more than 450 wild (endangered) animals confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade, and we need all the support to care for them and to return these animals back to their natural habitat.
Please support us! Through the following link at WANICARE – STEUNACTIE you can make easily a donation for the animals at the Cikananga Wildlife Center.
Thank you for your support! Any questions, don’t hesitate to mail me.
Best regards,
Willemijn Eggen – Founder Wanicare
info@wanicare.com

Welcoming UKF students at Cikananga

28 September 2021 – In September we were pleased to welcome Uni Konservasi Fauna to Cikananga Wildlife Center. UKF is a student group from IPB University with a focus on wildlife conservation which aims to enhance the skills of their members in preparation for their pursuit of careers in conservation. Over the course of a few days, UKF undertook a programme on ex situ conservation techniques and saw first-hand how this can look when implemented. The group of 10 students brought a lot of energy, ideas and enthusiasm to the programme and consequently a lot of beneficial discussion and knowledge sharing took place on topics such as welfare, behaviour and nutrition. Thank you UKF and we look forward to seeing you again next year!

Want to learn more about our conservation program for (international) students? Contact us.

We celebrate 20 years of Cikanaga!

1 August 2021 – This month we celebrate 20 years of Cikananga! This remarkable anniversary is celebrated where Wanicare has joined the development of the rescue center already 12 years ago. But we want you to join in the celebrations, so in August we will share many updates on important milestones, memories and challenges throughout the 2 decades as we create a better world for wildlife. Follow us our Instagram en Facebook for these updates!

Ciremai release postponed due to Covid

06 July 2021 – This is Darwin, he was confiscated in september 2018. On arrival his wing feathers were covered with a gum or glue, indicating he might have been captured from the wild. His behavior indicates the same, therefore we are very happy he will soon be translocated to Ciremai for release. However a bit more patience is required, while due to the current Covid situation in Indonesia the government implemented a lockdown on the islands of Java and Bali. This means also release activities are postponed untill further notice.

Release preperations for Eagles in Ciremai

28 June 2021 – Release preparations! The Cikananga Team is in Gunung Ciremai to assist with the construction of habituation cages. This coming week 4 eagles will be translocated to the release site and will be released after habituation on site. More information soon.

Support the return of our Cockatoos

Celebrate with us World Parrot Day by helping us realize the translocation of 9 parrots!
In the last years Cikananga has been receiving parrots more frequently and at the moment we house a total of 121 parrots of 20 different species, originating from about 10 different islands throughout Indonesia. An amount which is challenging to manage for our facilities and therefore we are thrilled to share the good news that 9 parrots are accepted to go to Suaka Paruh Bengkok on the Moluccan.
However, due to the financial challenging situation at the moment as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, we ask you for help to realize their final flight to freedom.

For more information please have a look at the campaign. Many thanks for your ongoing support in these challenging times!

*Please find the fundraiser here:on gotgetfunding.com. Many thank for you help on behalf of the animals of Cikananga!

More information: info at wanicare.com

Orangutan Femi RELEASED

15 March 2021 – Amazing news from our friends at The Orangutan Project on Sumatra! We are incredibly happy to share this. Last week they finally announced what we already knew a little earlier. We are so excited that the hard work at Cikananga, even after the precarious situation as a traumatized, young orangutan has turned to this success story for Femi.

Femi in 2017 at Cikananga

An update from The Orangutan Project:
You may remember that our much-loved Citrawan was released into the Bukit Tigapuluh jungle last year. At the same time, her friend Femi was also released.  Femi’s story is one of perseverance and it demonstrates what we can achieve when we work together.
Femi was rescued in 2016 during an operation in which five orangutans were confiscated from wildlife traffickers. Femi was found at a bus station, packed inside a postage box. She had been transported by bus from Sumatra to Java to be sold to a buyer. After an investigation involving our partner Centre for Orangutan Protection, as well as JAAN and BKSDA, a number of wildlife traffickers were arrested.

After her rescue, Femi was sent to Cikananga Wildlife Center in southern Java. On arrival at the center, it was clear she had learned a lot from her mother – she knew how to make a nest and which plants and fruit to eat. This positive start in her life is helping her now.

However, shortly after her arrival, Femi became depressed and the carers at Cikananga were afraid they would lose her. She seemed to lose the will to live and they could see the depression in her eyes. It’s not surprising, given what she’d been through in her short life.
Fortunately, there was another infant orangutan at the centre. Little Rosi had been rescued from a family who kept her as a pet and, along with the carers, Rosi helped Femi recover from her depression. The caretakers at Cikananga took Femi and Rosi out to the forest at least twice a day for a few hours at a time, until November 2018, when they were translocated to Sumatra.
The wonderful news is that despite her early trauma, Femi is doing really well in the Sumatran Orangutan Reintroduction Centre in the Bukit Tigapuluh Ecosystem.  She is very active, foraging and exploring the forest, and you can see her in this final photo, enjoying her freedom in the wild. Thank you to all the partners, organisations and carers that worked together to rescue, rehabilitate and translocate this precious young orangutan.

A video message from Willemijn Eggen

10 March 2021 – Dear Wanicare & Cikananga supporters,

Instead of a paper year update about our work we would like you to show how things are going through a short video. See below a YouTube link with a short 2020 overview of Wanicare & Cikananga. It includes a short introduction of myself followed by the staff and animals in Cikananga!

Corona hits us hard, so it was a very difficult year and it still is. Also, for me personal it is difficult to see the Cikananga team struggling and working so hard, it makes me feel often powerless. Now it has already been over a year since I was in Cikananga. I hope boarders will open soon again.

I really hope this year I can go back to my beloved Cikananga and the team. In the meantime, my work consisted mainly of finding emergency funding for Cikananga to continue our fantastic and important work for the animals, and cover the basic operational necessary costs.

Foremost I would like to thank you for your support, without this support we would absolutely not have been able to continue last year. Now almost a year in Corona, extra support is still desperately needed for the almost 500 animals in Cikananga.

We are still in difficult times because of Corona. Due to the lack of visitors, we are missing structural income and more and more animals are in need of help. That while the team can’t rely on the support of the regular volunteers and interns.

We are working on different projects to generate structural financial support as well, like through the organic farming program and merchandise program, but it takes time to develop these programs and to create profits.

We hope that next year everything will be back to normal, and that we can welcome you again in Cikananga or meet elsewhere.

We hope you can continue supporting us. Any donation is welcome and very much needed to bridge the coming months. If there is a way to support us, please contact me or find our bank account numbers below for the many rescued animals in our care.

But now: Click here for the Wanicare Annual Review 2020 on YouTube.

Stay healthy and hopefully we will meet again soon.
If there are any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely,

On behalf of the Wanicare & Cikananga Team,

Willemijn Eggen

Wanicare Foundation – Triodos Bank
IBAN: NL64TRIO0788941402
BIC: TRIONL2U

Wanicare Foundation – ABN AMRO Bank
IBAN: NL65ABNA0515544981
BIC: ABNANL2A

Wanicare PayPal – Please donate 

Help us help endangered Slow lorises

18 February 2021 – Most of the Slow lorises in Cikananga are coming directly from the trade or are found at illegal owners who believe they make good pets. But the opposite is true, these nocturnal primates are in need of very specific diets, are poisonous when thevly bite and are very sensitive to stress. Even here at the rescue center we need to keep them under close supervision, where they live in large, semi natural enclosures and are being fed a very specific diet that includes for example tree gum. Currently there are 9 Javan slow loris (Nycticebus javanicus) at Cikanaga and this species is classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red list, due to illegal trade and shrinking habitats.

Do you want to help these magnificent animals? Please do not hesitate as we can use all support as we are finacially struggling as a result of the corona crisis.  With no visitors at the rescue center, we mis out on a very significant income stream that help us pay for the food, medicine, keeper wages and other operational costs. Help us help!

info at wanicare.com is always open for any questions or remarks, or donate right away through the donate button.

Conservation education for students continue online

4 February 2021 – Conservation education continues online: This time Wanicare founder Willemijn Eggen explains the what happens on a daily basis at Cikananga, with Inge Tielen attending live from the rescue center. Together they teach students from Helicon Velp in the Netherlands in a series of classes on the importance of conservation, rescue operations and the goals of Cikananga and Wanicare.