Costa-Rica Rainforest

This week’s episode of the German TV-show “TopWelt” was about amazing human-animal-relationships:
>In Australia a fully-grown great white got entangled in a fisherman’s net. Luckily for the shark the fisherman was a very brave man who without hesitation jumped into the water to free the animal. It was strange! Not only did the shark not attack him, but she – yes, it was confirmed that this one was a female – also followed his boat once she was free. From that day on she stayed in the bay and approached his boat whenever he went out to go fishing – much to the fisherman’s chagrin as this shark of course scared off all the fish. Sometimes the shark even showed him that she wanted to be petted by rolling onto its back like a dog. It is believed she learned this by watching real dogs fo that.
>In a swamp in Costa Rica there was this huge crocodile that always attacked the cattle of local farmers once they approached the swamp. Thus farmers eventually decided to kill the animal by shooting it. They mistakenly thought it was dead and thus left it where it lay.
Some time later a fisherman came by, saw the wounded, but still breathing reptile and felt sorry for it. He returned with his car, loaded the heavy animal onto it and brought it to his own home where he fed some raw fish and the meat of chicken to it. At first he even slept close to the animal just in case its health conditions would worsen. After its complete recovery however the crocodile showed some odd behavior like following its benefactor without attacking him or rolling onto its back until he would pet it. He eventually decided to keep it as he lived next to a swamp. Pressured by his friends he even started a show in which he swam with the crocodile and let it do tricks. However he didn’t ask for much money as he found it disrespectful towards the animal to make use of its trust. Alas the crocodile meanwhile died of old age. Also he won’t let anyone else get too close to his “pet” as he is convinced it would kill anybody else.
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Re-upload: “http://www.kidsforsavingearth.org/programs/rainforest.htm” and “http://www.regenwald.at/de/project-information/saving-the-rainforest.html” are websites you definetly should visit if you want to get involved in the protection of the rainforest.

Although Costa Rica is the most developed country in all of Central America when it comes to human development, native people still get opressed. Politicians ignore them and their wishes although according to the “Convention Concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries” a government must also consider indigenous groups or other ethnic minorities to make a law.
“http://www.care.org/careswork/projects/BOL100.asp” and “http://www.culturalsurvival.org/explore” belong to two organisations that help these indigenous people and at the same time they depend on our support.
Even if you are not interested in getting involved, I can only recommend these two websites, since they really give you interesting information concerning these tribes and their current problems.

The leatherback sea turtle is critically endangered and it wasn’t until March 2008 that they received protection in this country. If you want to help this rare and special specimen of turtle, the links “http://www.seaturtlesforever.org/” and “http://world-turtle-trust.org/project04.html” may be useful for you.

With more than a quarter of Costa Rica’s total land area comprising of national parks, biological reserves and wildlife refuges, it is no wonder then that this country’s greatest national treasure is its plethora of natural diversity. Home to some of the most colorful and exotic flora and fauna on earth, and one of the most bio-diverse regions in the world, this tiny Central American country is the habitat of some 10,000 species of plants and trees.

Costa Rica has a stable, democratic government. It has a growing National Park System. This is important because this investment to protect rainforests, with proper care, including education programs, trail systems, guards and fences, means that it is to stay a rainforest.