Canadians Abroad: The wild life of Dennis Janik

Dennis Janik rescued his first animal at age seven, saving a toad from vengeful neighbourhood kids convinced it was poisonous.

“I wouldn’t let them kill it. I pushed it into a metal trash can and on the weekend, I begged my father to take me out to release it somewhere,” said Janik.

“I was hooked,” recalled 66-year-old Janik, who grew up in East York, now part of Toronto. “My problem is I haven’t had a new idea in more than 50 years.”

At age 14, after seeing the ecological devastation among dead lakes while on a family vacation around Eastern Canada, he decided to move to Costa Rica, a country rich in biodiversity.

He joined Greenpeace as a teenager. It took a bit longer for him to land in Costa Rica. After travelling extensively around Latin America, Janik moved there permanently in 1990.

Not long after he arrived, he stumbled on a “horrible little roadside zoo” in Alajuela near the San José airport. “I made a deal with (the owner). I took it over, then we bought the property next to it and we’ve been under construction ever since,” said Janik.

The zoo became the 34-acre, non-profit Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center. Ticket sales, plus profits from the restaurant and gift shop, fund about 95 per cent of operation.

The centre has a veterinary hospital, rehabilitation and breeding areas and a staff of 80,including three full-time veterinarians. Animals that can be returned to the wild are released on more than 2,000 acres of private reforested land on the Nicoya Peninsula.

The 1,100 rescued animals that can’t survive outside the refuge live in the lifetime animal sanctuary. Species from birds and reptiles to jungle cats are on view along two kilometres of pathways in a botanical garden. Favourites include jaguar Guapo, who was rescued as a cub during hurricane Otto and puma Dota, whose mother was killed by a farmer.

As he reluctantly explored semi-retirement, Janik began splitting his time between Costa Rica and València, Spain earlier this year. Since his parents came to Canada from the former Czechoslovakia, he’s recovered his Czech citizenship, which allows him to live anywhere in Europe. Janik said Spain is a lifestyle move. He was spending more time on administration and less time with the animals at the centre and he needed a change. Plus, the traffic in Costa Rica is “just horrible,” he said.

“I was on a treadmill for 35 years, didn’t take vacations, didn’t do much,” Janik added.

The wildlife refuge he established three decades ago is still his passion project. He’ll be there for about 12 weeks each year.

Wildlife tourism “is a very competitive business” in Costa Rica, said Janik, who refuses to cater to people who want to physically interact with the animals.

“We don’t do what everybody’s interested in, an animal interaction experience. Touch it, feed it, have it sit on them. It’s just, I’m Canadian and Canadians have ethics, you know,” he said.