Tesa Mendoza Blowey is the Release Site Supervisor and oversees the last stage of rehabilitation for many animals under our care. She studied Wildlife Conservation Biology at the University of California Davis, where she specialized in animal/human conflicts and wildlife management. Although she grew up in the United States, her mother is Costa Rican and would bring her to visit every summer. She fell in love with the immense diversity of the tropics and while adventuring in the depths of the rainforest, her passion for saving wildlife grew. She spent a summer in college volunteering at the Toucan Rescue Ranch headquarters where it was truly cemented in her that she wanted to spend the rest of her life working in wildlife rehabilitation. After she got her bachelor’s degree, she interned at several wildlife rescue centers to gain animal handling and clinic experience before she found herself back at Toucan Rescue Ranch. She believes in the importance of educating communities on how to co-exist with wildlife, and that there is no better feeling than seeing an animal under your care back in the trees of the jungle.