During another field trip, the children witnessed blatant abuse of wildlife: they found a spider monkey in the city of Rurrenabaque kept in a local bar. Antezana and Baltazar rescued, treated and released the monkey. However, the monkey returned to Rurrenabaque and was again captured. Antezana and Baltazar realized a wildlife sanctuary would be necessary to protect these animals. CIWY was formally organized in 1992. The organization worked with and cared for rescued animals in a Japanese garden in La Paz until 1996, when the mayor of Villa Tunari granted conditional use of Parque Machía for the organization's rescue efforts.