About JRC

#JaguarRescueCenter

About Us About the Jaguar Rescue Center About JRC in Costa Rica Who We Are

The Jaguar Rescue Center (JRC) is a sanctuary of second chances, a place where ill, injured, and orphaned wild animals find safety, expert care, and, whenever possible, a path back to the wild. We focus on monkeys, sloths, other mammals, birds, and reptiles, offering round-the-clock veterinary treatment and a haven for recovery in the heart of Costa Rica’s southern Caribbean.

Our conservation work spans Rescue, Rehabilitation & Release, the Shock-Free Zone, Primary Forest Conservation, and JRC Community. Together, these programs heal animals, protect habitats, and help people and wildlife coexist in harmony.

Since 2008, JRC has rescued more than 9,000 wild animals, returning about 48% to their natural habitats. Each life saved strengthens one of the most biodiverse regions on Earth, a landscape that shelters nearly six percent of all known species.

Authorized by SINAC (National System of Conservation Areas), JRC is built on three core values: science, compassion, and transparency. Our veterinarians and biologists follow international best practices established by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS), and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to ensure the highest level of animal welfare.

We follow a strict no-contact, welfare-first approach and maintain careful veterinary and quarantine protocols for every rescue. Much of our work happens quietly, monitoring recoveries, documenting outcomes, and sharing knowledge with Costa Rica’s environmental authorities and universities to strengthen national conservation efforts.

Our mission aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goals — SDG 15 (Life on Land) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals), and contributes to the global 30x30 biodiversity framework, a shared commitment to protect 30% of the planet by 2030.

In the United States, donations to JRC are processed through Amigos of Costa Rica, Inc. (EIN 31-1714653), our fiscal sponsor. Amigos ensures that every gift is tax-deductible and used transparently to support wildlife rescue and rehabilitation in Costa Rica.

Our vision is simple: a Costa Rica where every wild animal has a real chance to heal, and where people and wildlife share the same forests, skies, and future in balance with nature.

How the Jaguar Rescue Center began

Italian herpetologist, Sandro Alviani had a long career in Europe and the rest of the World researching reptiles and amphibians. Among other achievements, he led groundbreaking research into the breeding and conservation of amphibians and was instrumental in getting CITES recognition of some of the World’s most endangered frogs.

In 1997, after 10 years of visiting Costa Rica as part of his research, Sandro decided to come and live in his own piece of paradise on the southern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and enjoy a relaxed life of riding his horse on the beach while continuing to pursue his interests in reptiles and amphibians.

Four years later, Encar Garcia, a Catalonian primatologist, came to Puerto Viejo on holiday. She met Sandro and they fell in love, only later discovering that they had both worked for several years at Barcelona Zoo at the same time, but had never met.

A lifelong ambition of Encar’s was to help animals by way of a rescue centre, so when shortly after moving to Costa Rica in 2005, some local people heard of the two animal experts who had recently moved to the area and started to bring them injured animals in the hope that they could help save them, it seemed like fate was catching up with her.

As time went by, more and more animals were brought to Sandro and Encar who soon found that caring for these animals was a 24 hour responsibility, often enduring sleepless nights when babies required regular night-time feedings, and therefore invited other animal lovers to come and help tend to those in need.

Enclosures were built in their garden and room by room, their house was given up to the needs of an animal rescue centre.

As more and more animals arrived, Sandro and Encar were able to buy adjoining pieces of land to increase the space available for more enclosures and other facilities.

The Jaguar Rescue Centre now covers an area of approximately 22,000 square meters and is capable of housing up to around 160 animals on a temporary basis although modifications are constantly being made to accommodate the individual needs of new arrivals.

Despite the police, fire brigade, coast guard and government agencies all regularly bringing injured, orphaned and confiscated animals to the JRC for our help, we do not receive any government funding. We rely on the donations made through our web site and generated by guided tours of the JRC and La Ceiba Natural Reserve as well as occasional donations of medical supplies and goats’ milk.

Chronology

1997

Italian herpetologist, Sandro Alviani buys a house near Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica.

2001

Sandro and Encar meet while Encar is visiting the area on holiday.

2005

Having pursued their romance between Europe and Central America, Encar moves permanently to Costa Rica.

2005

The first injured animals are brought to the ‘animal expert foreigners’ who live near the town.

2006

First monkey successfully released back into the wild.

2008

The JRC is named and the Costa Rican government grant Sandro and Encar an official rescue centre license.

2013

Employs a full time vet.

2014

A lease contract was agreed and signed for the land where La Ceiba Natural Reserve is now established.

2016

Sandro Alviani, sadly passes away suddenly, surrounded by the animals at the centre and those that loved him.

2017

The JRC cafe opens.

2018

The latest figures show that the JRC has received 598 animals in 2018.

Our Mission

Established in 2008, the JRC is an organization dedicated to helping animals in need. With uncompromising care and love, the JRC rehabilitates injured, sick, and orphaned animals and releases those who are restored to good health back to their natural habitat. Through educational outreach, the JRC provides environmental awareness, promotes a harmonious relationship with native wildlife, and encourages the community to protect our delicate ecosystems.

Vision & Values

The JRC aims to continue growing as a center for animal welfare, and a hub of scientific research and study, attracting scientists from all over the world to study the unique animals and eco systems on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica.

Why Jaguar?

The Jaguar is the most hunted endangered animal in the Americas. It’s a symbol of nature that suffers from a great threat of extinction.

The Jaguar is the largest of the 6 types of wild cats living in Costa Rica and is a beautiful animal with an incredibly powerful image. It has been depicted as a major symbol of power and authority in the culture and beliefs of many indigenous Americans. Jaguar populations in the Americas have dropped from 400,000 to 14,000 over the past century with most now living in the Amazon basin. It is listed as Near Threatened with a decreasing population.

One of the first calls for help that Sandro and Encar received was from a local man in Playa Chiquita who had found a large wild cat in distress and who mistakenly identified it as a Jaguar. It was actually a large female Ocelot who was unfortunately showing signs of having been poisoned. Sadly she died the following morning.

Word soon spread around town of the ‘Jaguar’ that had been found and that Sandro and Encar tried to help, and thereafter referred to them as the ‘Jaguar people at Chiquita’.

When it was time to choose a name for the centre in order to become licensed by the government, it seemed appropriate to name it the Jaguar Rescue Center - and has been the source of some confusion ever since for those few who arrive expecting to see a live Jaguar.