Rescued Otters need you help

Very soon Cikananga Wildlife Center (CWC) in West-Java, Indonesia, we will receive five rescued oriental small clawed otters whom were illegally traded in horrible conditions and confiscated by authorities. These animals need urgent professional medical care and proper housing. Currently they are housed in poor conditions at another center that does not have the dedicated facilities or ability to provide specialized care they desperately need. 

Currently we have a dedicated and specialized otter rehabilitation facility at CWC with 2 large enclosures and 3 smaller pens, with an indoor holding and management building. Sadly this facility is showing its age, it does not meet modern otter standards, it’s in urgent need of renovation to prevent escapes, to provide the best care for rescued otters and to better facilitate potential releases to the wild.

Currently we can only use 3 out of the 5 otter pens, due to metal fences becoming dilapidated and rusted. And with 3 otters already in our care, we need to restore the other enclosures.  We will need to replace many of the enclosure walls, from broken and rusted metal fencing to solid and secure concrete walls.  With our 3 current residents under rehabilitation and with 5 new otters coming in we desperately need to replace and build a total of 130 meters of new concrete walls. These walls will be 160cm (Over 5 Feet) high to ensure the otters remain safe and secure within their enclosures. This renovation will cost only 4000 Euros to complete and enable us to help otters well into the future- hopefully doing our part to secure this beautiful species place in the waterways of Java!

Our enclosures were specially designed and built for the rehabilitation of otters in 2011. All of these beautiful enclosures are large, open, and all have an environment similar to what otters would have in their natural habitat with over 100 square meters of space per enclosure. This enables the otters to rehabilitate in a safe natural area and we aim to release as many of these stunning animals in the future. We were able to successfully rehabilitate and release two oriental small clawed otters just a couple of months ago! These otters are thriving and still seen by local park rangers foraging and swimming in the river ways of a beautiful West Javan national park. With your help we can bring more otters back to the wild!

Do you also believe these magnificent animals deserve to go back to the wild? Do you want to help us as otters in Indonesia are increasingly under treat? Please donate and make a difference.

I am Willemijn Eggen and I’ve been supporting the Cikananga Wildlife Center since 2009 with rescue and rehabilitation activities of wildlife from all over Indonesia, therefor I founded the Wanicare Foundation almost 10 years ago. Cikananga relies 100% on donations to realize the medical and husbandry care, construct proper enclosures, and to facilitate release and rescue activities. The Wanicare Foundation is a NGO that is registered in my home country (The Netherlands) and we specifically raise money to enable our work in and around Cikananga. Here we work with many locals, volunteers and students to make a difference for wildlife. Currently over 300 animals are staying with us in Cikananga, ranging for Orang-Utans tot Eagles, and Crocodiles to Leopards. Most of the animals are protected and many of them are (critically) endangered. We offer professional (medical) care and (if possible) we release animals back into the wild.

Do you want to help the otters of Cikananga? Please let us know!