「笑顔の呪い」　ナマケモノ保護に夫婦で尽力　ベネズエラ

【サンアントニオデロスアルトスＡＦＰ＝時事】ベネズエラの首都カラカス近郊で、森に返したばかりのナマケモノの「マルハ５８」が落ち着くまで、アイデ・ロドリゲスさんは見守った。（写真はベネズエラの首都カラカス近郊サンアントニオデロスアルトスの保護施設で暮らすナマケモノ）
　マルハ５８は、ロドリゲスさんと夫のフアン・カルロスさんがチュウィー財団を通じて救出・世話をし、森に返した５８匹目のナマケモノだ。
　カラカス近郊サンアントニオデロスアルトスにある財団は、中南米の熱帯雨林に生息するナマケモノを保護するために２人が立ち上げた。チュウィーという名は、２人が最初に保護したナマケモノにちなんでおり、その顔は財団のロゴマークに使われている。
　国内に生息するナマケモノの個体数の政府統計はないが、森林破壊により生息地が縮小していると世界自然保護基金（ＷＷＦ）は指摘する。
　国際自然保護連合（ＩＵＣＮ）が作成した絶滅の恐れがある野生生物リスト「レッドリスト」で、ピグミーミツユビナマケモノは「深刻な危機（ＣＲ）」に、タテガミナマケモノは「危急（ＶＵ）」に分類されている。
　カラカス近郊のナマケモノは、犬の襲撃、交通事故、森林地帯に広がる高圧線という主に三つの脅威にさらされている。高圧線につかまろうとし、感電する。
　チュウィーもそうやって感電し、左腕の一部を失い、深刻なやけどを負った。夫婦はチュウィーを獣医師の所に連れて行き、その後引き取った。
　ニュースメディアに勤めるロドリゲスさんとグラフィックデザイナーのカルロスさんは、ナマケモノの現状を知ってもらおうとソーシャルメディアに「＠Ｃｈｕｗｉｅｅｌｇａｌａｎ」というアカウントを立ち上げた。現在インスタグラムのフォロワー数は約１万人に上る。
　２人はコスタリカの環境専門家からナマケモノの世話の仕方を学び、数か月後にけがをしたナマケモノの保護を始めた。
　日中はそれぞれ仕事があるが、今ではナマケモノが２人の時間の大半を占めている。

■「ペットでもぬいぐるみでもない」
　２人は今、ナマケモノ６匹と自宅で暮らしている。１匹は犬にかまれ、別の赤ちゃんは母親とはぐれてしまっていた。残りの４匹は高圧線で感電した。いずれも体調が回復したら森に返す予定だ。
　夫婦はさらに多くのナマケモノを保護できるよう、施設を拡大したいと考えている。
　カルロスさんは毎日、保護しているナマケモノの餌用に新鮮な葉を１．６キロ集めに行く。
　ナマケモノのための費用を賄うため、ロドリゲスさんはチュウィーの顔がデザインされた帽子やマグカップ、Ｔシャツ、イヤリングなどのグッズを販売している。
　チュウィーは重い障害が残ったため、「森に返ることはできない」とカルロスさんは話す。
　夫婦は、チュウィーを腕に抱いた写真をウェブサイトに掲載しないよう注意している。「ナマケモノはペットでもぬいぐるみでもない」とカルロスさんは訴える。
　「ナマケモノは永遠の笑顔という呪いを受けた。苦痛を感じていてもほほ笑んでいるように見えてしまう」と語り、ナマケモノを飼おうとする人がナマケモノにとって脅威となっていると指摘した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/10/25-16:24）

Haydee Rodriguez has just set free a sloth named Maruja 58 in a forested area outside Caracas and is watching her get settled.
Look how pretty! It's dancing in the trees, said Rodriguez, who along with her husband Juan Carlos shares a passion for the lethargic mammals that spend a lot of time hanging upside down from treetops.
Maruja 58 is the 58th sloth the couple has rescued, cared for and freed through the Chuwie Foundation, the organization they founded that works to help these animals native to the rainforests of Central and South America.
Chuwie was the first sloth they rescued, and his face provides the logo of the foundation, located in San Antonio de los Altos, a suburb of Venezuela's capital.
We also want to help with research. To know how many sloths there are, for instance, and how they live, said Juan Carlos Rodriguez.
There are no official figures for the sloth population in Venezuela, but deforestation in Latin America has reduced the size of the animals' habitat, says the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The International Union for Conservation of Nature says the pygmy three-toed sloth is in danger of extinction, and another species -- the maned three-toed sloth -- is considered vulnerable.
Near Caracas, the sloths face three main threats: dogs that attack them, getting hit by cars and, above all, high voltage wires that run through forested areas. The sloths try to cling to them and are electrocuted.
That is what happened to Chuwie. He lost part of his left arm and suffered severe burns. The Rodriguez family, who had turned the injured animal over to a vet, adopted him.
To raise awareness of the story, Haydee, who works in the news media, and Juan Carlos, a graphic designer, created a social media account -- @Chuwieelgalan -- that now has almost 10,000 followers on Instagram.
They learned from environmental specialists in Costa Rica how to care for these animals, and in just a few months, the Rodriguez family started going out to help injured ones.
Without even trying, we became sloth rescuers, said Haydee.
She and Juan Carlos have kept their day jobs, but the sloths now take up most of their time.
They currently have six sloths with them at home recovering so they can be released. One was severely bitten by dogs, a baby one was found without its mother and another suffered a shock from a high voltage cable. The couple wants to build a bigger facility to shelter more animals.
- 'Curse of the eternal smile' -
Juan Carlos goes out every day to find fresh leaves from specific trees to feed the sloths he is hosting, and says he needs 1.6 kilograms (3.5 pounds) of them.
To pay for all of this, Haydee Rodriguez developed and now sells things with Chuwie's face on them, such as caps, coffee mugs, T-shirts and earrings.
People are really moved by Chuwie. He is a survivor, says Juan Carlos, but we will never be able to release him. The animal is severely disabled now.
On their website, the couple carefully avoids posting photos of them with Chuwie in their arms.
They are not pets or stuffed animals, said Juan Carlos.
Sloths have the curse of the eternal smile. Even when they are in agony, it looks like they are smiling, he said, adding that people who want to domesticate them are one of the dangers facing these creatures.
When a telephone rings out of the blue, they learn there is a sloth in jeopardy. Juan Carlos and Haydee jump into their car and race to a nearby neighborhood.
A sloth is hanging from high up in a palm tree after fleeing from a dog that bit it on the leg, explains the dog owner, Maria Antonia Mugica.
It went up and up, and has been there since yesterday, said Mugica. I called so it can be rescued.
Juan Carlos manages to bring the sloth down. The animal is fine, but they must move it away from the residential area.
A few kilometers away, the couple sees an area with no high voltage wires and with the kind of trees that sloths like. They free this newly assisted one. Her name is Maruja 58.