After its rehabilitation, the woolly tigrilla rescued in Urrao returns to its habitat

The return of the woolly tigrilla (a tricolor leopard) to its natural habitat is news that fills animal activists in the country with hope. This feline, one of the jewels of Colombian wildlife, has managed to overcome a difficult journey since it arrived at the Wildlife Care, Assessment and Rehabilitation Center -CAVR- in the Metropolitan Area of ​​the Aburrá Valley.

“This becomes the most important rehabilitation process of the year in our CAVR, the tigrilla arrived from the municipality of Urrao when it was barely four months old and in a deteriorating physical state,” said Paula Andrea Palacio Salazar, director of the Metropolitan Area. of the Aburrá Valley.

The animal was found in October 2023 by Corpourabá personnel in a home in a rural area of ​​Urrao, and was transferred to the CAVR. Her condition was critical: lethargic, dehydrated, underweight and with an unkempt coat that reflected the consequences of not being in her habitat with her parents.

In the neonatal ward of the CAVR, he received assisted and artificial upbringing, initially providing a milk replacer that supplied the balance of his nutritional requirements; where he learned not only to feed himself properly, but also to associate humans as a threat, a key step in ensuring his independence.

For more than seven months, the tiger was in an isolated enclosure where it received physical, sensory and nutritional enrichments that taught it how to hunt and identify shelters, allowing the animal to incorporate the behaviors it needs to survive autonomously in its ecosystem.

This arduous process allowed it to triple its initial weight and recover the vitality that characterizes it as a species, thanks to the work of veterinarians, biologists, zootechnicians and caretakers of the CAVR team of the Aburrá Valley Metropolitan Area.

The release process occurs thanks to the coordination between entities and marks a milestone in efforts to conserve wildlife in the region.

“From Corpourabá we are very happy because together with the Metropolitan Area of ​​the Aburrá Valley, we have managed to return this woolly tigrilla to its natural habitat. We extend a great invitation to the community in general, not to keep our wildlife in captivity, these species contribute to having a healthy ecosystem,” said Jorge David Tamayo, general director (e) of Corpourabá.