Twenty years ago, biologist Mario Urriola started the Maravillas Naturales serpentarium, an animal conservation and research project that sought to teach about the importance of preserving snakes in El Valle de Antón and the rest of the country.

The beginnings were not easy, Urriola confesses, due to the stigma attached to snakes and wild animals, it represented a difficult barrier to overcome. “We have a culture that states that all wild animals are dangerous and snakes do not escape that,” analyzes the specialist.

But over time they have managed to win over the community and publicize their work, since in the two decades they have been working, they have rescued and relocated more than 25 animals a month. Along with working in community activities and bringing knowledge to the local schools of El Valle de Antón, where the campus is located.

It is an enclosure where animals that have been displaced by human advance and, often injured, can be rehabilitated and find a second chance to return to their habitat. 

A task that the Urriola group and his team carry out for free. “When people have problems with a wild animal, they call us and we give them free advice,” says the biologist, who assures that he has a team of 10 volunteers nationwide who rescue animals, without asking for anything in return.

“We work with animals and we need government entities to take an interest in our work,” the specialist expressed annoyed.

Urriola’s team collaborates with consultations for snake bites at the El Valle Health Center and provides service when official entities request their support, despite this it regrets that the Government has separated them. “They’ve kept us very far apart for years and we rescue animals when they can’t,” he details.

“While government entities work during office hours, we are there every day, 24 hours a day,” he says.

A job that has been increasing as construction and population have expanded. “Rescues have increased a lot. We have alligators that left Playa Blanca, Bijao or Buenaventura,” he points out.

This increase in work led Urriolla to create a foundation called Biodiversidad Tropical Panamá six years ago with the aim of receiving donations and making his work reach more people.

The problem of space

Although Urriola’s team is committed to rescuing animals, they currently have a 2,200-meter enclosure, which is getting too small, which is why they seek to raise money through donations and animal exhibitions. 

“We have animals that we cannot relocate, due to the injuries they have,” he says, alleging that they currently have a hawk without a wing, some fractured owls and other animals that require more space.

“In high season about 300 people usually visit us, but in the low season the number drops a lot,” he recalls.

Despite this, the scientist emphasized that the serpentarium is not a zoo, but a means of rescuing and relocating animals.

a form of retribution

Urriola has dedicated 30 years of his life to the preservation and animal rescue of snakes, an animal that at first was not of interest to him, he says, because at first he wanted to work with elephants and lions, but over time, he ended up working with snakes, as a way of “giving back to nature the peace that it gives me”.

This April 14, the rescue center turns 20 and they will be carrying out various activities this weekend, to commemorate their work.