Help is Needed for the Finca Lupita Bird Sanctuary
in Cuidad Quesada, Costa Rica
~An Urgent Plea from Dr. Ellen K. Rudolph~
September 12, 2002
This is a message to my fellow conservation enthusiasts. I am looking to
raise some emergency cash to help a friend of mine in Costa Rica who has
been
rescuing injured Great Green McCaws for the last ten years, and who now
has a
successful breeding colony of them in Costa Rica. I want to tell you this
conservation story and also ask you for your help.
The Great Green McCaws are endangered parrots and the project that I am
about
to describe is a remarkable personal effort to save them from extinction.
Tom
Birmingham Armstrong is a US citizen and veteran USAF who has been living
in
Costa Rica for ten years, mostly on social security. He bought a former
coffee plantation and began taking in injured birds and rehabilitating
them
back to the wild. After many months he also began to attact wild birds
who
were migrating across his property.
Tom is one of those unknown, unsung heroes in conservation and I feel
privileged to know him. He is a very interesting guy, he was on the
ground
support team for the first NASA shuttle mission in 1981, the Columbia.
Upon
his retirement from the National Aeronatical and Space Administration in
the
late 80's he moved to Costa Rica where the US dollar stretches farther
and
that's when his attention turned to the plight of the Great Green McCaws.
He
has been involved in conservation efforts on their behalf evee bad news
is
that Tom is dying and he doesn't hasn't much longer to live. He is on
oxygen
now and requires nightly nursing care, and he can no longer spend time
outside with the McCaws. He has limited family, none close by, and he is
anxious about the future safety and well-being of his Great Green colony,
as
he should be. He approached the Wild Spots Foundation to assist him.
I was just with Tom in mid-August at his farm, The Finca Lupita Bird
Sanctuary as he calls it. I have been helping Dr. Barry Barker of the
Wild
Spots Foundation in Ft. Lauderdale to organize a transition of Tom's
beloved
McCaw colony into protective, capable hands. We are working with a an
extended Costan Rica family in Tom's area who has been rescuing
endangered
neotropical animals and birds of all kinds for more than 25 years. They
have
built a wonderful, expansive and well-managed zoo to house these animals
and
they provide invaluable educational services to visiting Costa Rican
citizens
in the process.
We are working out the transition details now and feel certain that Juan
Jose
Rogas and his zoo will be able to continue Tom's breeding efforts with
the
more vulnerable members of the existing colony of Great Greens in
protected
environs. This will provide relief for the Great Greens immediately upon
Tom's death until such time as the Wild Spots Foundation can take over
the
property and support it. and adequately protect it.
This is wonderful opportunity for the Foundation for Tom's dilemma
perfectly
matches the Foundation's mission to save valuable habitats of endangered
species which it does through photography, technology and education. The
Foundation eventually plans to renovate the property to attract students,
photographers and researchers to Finca Lupita who will provide a
revenue-generating base that will support the property and provide a firm
foundation for it for the future. Eventually the Foundation hopes to
broadcast 24-hour, seven-day-a-week live webcams of endangered species
and
related educational material to thousands of American school children.
Tom has never gotten any kind of public or conservation funding for his
Great
Green project, he has done it all on his own for all these years. Now
that he
is in his last stages of life his money has almost run out. Indeed, last
week, one of the night nursing providers took two checks from his
checkbook
and fradulently withdrew $2,500 from Tom's account and abscounded. Tom
had
just cashed in his last money market reserves of $6,000 a few days
earlier
and this stolen amount was part of those precious reserves. You can see
how
precarious his resources are.
We are looking now for some emergency cash to refund Tom's stolen assets
so
that he can continue to care for the birds while he is still alive and
while
we are organizing the transition of the property. Tom has three long-time
employees devoted to caring for his Sanctuary and these employees must be
paid or they cannot continue to work there. The safety of the Great
Greens
and the other parrots depends heavily on them, and the Great Greens
especially would be vulnerable to the ravages of illegal wildlife
traders
who have a looming presence in that part of Costa Rica.
The Foundation, therefore, has determined that it immediately needs
$36,000
to cover legal, employee and other urgent expenses to preserve and
protect
the existing colony which includes 16 Great Green McCaws, numerous
Scarlet
McCaws, 4 Toucans, two dozen Amazon parrots, and approximately 100 other
Costa Rican parrots, not to mention Finca Lupita's attraction to scores
of
other bird species that live in the adjacent rainforest.
Tom's property, Finca Lupita's 9.5 acres, is situated near the Monteverde
Cloud Forest Preserve in the Cordillera de Guanacaste. Finca Lupita's
close
proximity to the Preserve makes it especially valuable as a migratory
zone
for parrots flying in and out of the Preserve. The Juan Jose Rogas
property
is also similarly situated. As a future research site it boasts
unparalled
opportunity for studying Great Greens in the wild.
We need help in raising emergency funds at this time. You can send cash
donations c/o The Wild Spots Foundation which is a US-based 501(c)3
foundation for tax purposes:
The Wild Spots Foundation
Dr. Barry W. Barker, President
757 SE 17th Street, #230
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33316
Tele/Fax: (954) 585-0707
Toll Free: (866) 363-2643
www.wildspotsfoundation.org
ATTENTION: FINCA LUPITA BIRD SANCTUARY, COSTA RICA,
EMERGENCY RESCUE FUND
Can you please pass this information along to others besides yourself who
might be in a position to lend us a helping hand? Dr. Barker and I, and
the
Wild Spots Foundation, will be most appreciative.
Help us help these Great Greens, their future is limited without us.
Dr. Ellen K. Rudolph
5251-18 John Tyler Highway, Suite 358
Williamsburg, Virginia 23185 USA
Tele: +1 (757) 565-2767
Email:
Web: <A HREF="http://www.drellenrudolph.com/";>www.drellenrudolph.com</A>
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