RESERVA NATURAL BIOPARQUE WAKATÁ

The Sacred

Wakatá, in muisca dialect, stands for “the sacred” and represents the conversation work that takes places at Bioparque Wakatá, where we take care of 650 animals of 110 species, including domestic and wild ones, who through their work as biodiversity embassadors have a purpose of inspiring us to take care of nature.

Where do our animals come from?

60% of wild animals have entered our facilities referred by environmental authorities as victims of wildlife trafficking and the other 40% have been born in our Bioparque or other ex situ conversation centers that we work with, to preserve the genetic biodiversity of the animal population that is under professional care.

To fulfill this objective, we have 5 coordinations in charge of animal welfare: Animal Health Coordination, Behavioral Health Coordination, Animal Nutrition Coordination, Animal Production Coordination and an Education Coordination.

The objective of the Animal Health coordination is to protect the health of all the individuals of the Bioparque Wakatá Nature Reserve animal population.

The nutrition area promotes animal welfare through the elaboration of balanced diets, that supply the nutritional requirements of the species taking into account their behavior, dietary strategies, their health, environmental factors and characteristics of the Bioparque Wakatá Nature Reserve , that have a role in the dietary processes. Due to this, there is constant communication between the animal health area and the behavioral health one, to deliver to the animals the additional requirements that each coordination considers.

The behavioral health area is the one in charge of developing all the activities that are implemented with the goal of promoting natural behaviors in the species, as well as facilitating their handling. Inside these actives, we find the environmental enrichment and operant conditioning, which facilitates the day to day handling of the animals and strengthens the link between them, and their caretakers.

The coordination of animal production has as a purpose the production of the live food, under the standards of animal welfare and in this way, satisfy the internal demand of the Bioparque’s population, providing specific nutritional sources for different taxonomic groups, providing not only nutrients but also stimuli that develop their natural behavior. One of the most important considerations when animals are under human care, is the adequate dietary measures to maintain healthy animals.

A fundamental part of our Bioparque Wakatá Nature Reserve is the education group, who seek to inspire out visitors to take environmental care actions. School workshops, environmental seasons’ celebrations, community education projects, all these make part of the activities that we develop to encourage more people to be committed to the conversation of nature.

Agreements with Universities

We count with the support of around 60 students; biology, zootechnics, veterinarian medicine, among others, that have done their academic internships in different areas of the Bioparque Wakata, thanks to the alliances we have with different universities. We conduct joint research that strengthens knowledge on wildlife care and management, inside and outside of their natural habitat.