In this guided tour, you will immerse yourself in the world of native wildlife and naturalism, where you will have the opportunity to meet some non-releasable animals that have been rescued and live in the Refugio Animal Cascada. Additionally, you will experience an interactive room focused on naturalism.
We open the doors of the Refugio Animal Cascada in the Cascada de las Ánimas Nature Sanctuary for you to enjoy a unique and unforgettable experience, in direct contact with nature and wildlife.
With your visit, you will be contributing to the maintenance of the Rehabilitation Center of the Refugio, where we constantly receive animals to rehabilitate and release (this area is not open for visits).
Our Foundation is committed to the care of nature, and through initiatives like this, we hope to bring visitors closer, raise awareness, and educate them about native fauna and the ecosystems in which we coexist.
Rehabilitation Center
In Chile, when native animals are found with physical or psychological damages due to accidents, illegal trafficking or any other motive, the Livestock Agricultural Service (SAG) is the entity in charge of managing their care and possible release to their natural habitat. Nevertheless, the public system doesn’t count with state centres that take care of these animals and many times their rescue and rehabilitation capacity is exceeded, therefore, the vast majority of specimens that require this are referred to the various private Wildlife Rehabilitation Centres (WRC) that have SAG authorization.
There are around 23 WRC throughout Chile, mainly concentrated in Metropolitan Region, Biobío and Los Lagos. These specialized centres receive, take care, rehabilitate and, if possible, return the animals to their natural environment. All WRC in Chile are private initiatives of natural persones or universities, which work to fill up the void that the State has left in the care of wildlife.
The Refuge
The main goal of the Animal Cascada Refuge is the rehabilitation of the animals we receive… we constantly work on giving a second chance for freedom to the animals we receive from different regions of the country.
We are lucky to be located inside a Nature Sanctuary, which allows us to rehabilitate animals in natural spaces that optimize their rehabilitation process and many of them can be released in this same protected area.
The Rehabilitation Centre has various facilities that allow us to receive various species of birds, mammals, and reptiles and a team of professionals with vast experience in rehabilitation.
In this way, the Refuge constantly collaborates with other rehabilitation centres in the country, who refer their patients to our centre so that they can experience their extensive rehabilitation process in our facilities.
Until now, the Rehabilitation Centre has received over 1050 specimens of more than 60 native species, of which we have managed to release more than 60% of them (updated on January 2022).