Located an hour from Belize City is “the best little zoo in the world“, The Belize Zoo. Whether you’re going to be in Belize for a short stay or a few months you should definitely take the time to visit the Belize Zoo. What started in 1983 as a home for animals who had been used in a documentary has grown into the national pride of Belize, educating Belizeans about the importance of their own natural heritage and the animals that inhabit it.

Sharon Matola started the zoo in 1983 after being left by film makers to dispose of the animals that had become too tame to be able to survive in the wild. From the zoo’s meager, chicken wire beginnings Sharon recalled a conversation with an older Belizean that gave her the inspiration to start the zoo.

“A very old man showed up at the gate after closing. At the time, Matola was keeper, janitor, tour guide, and accountant rolled into one, so she let the man in and gave him a personal tour. At first the old man commented freely at each cage about well-entrenched Belizean myths—how ant-eaters kill dogs with their tongues, or that boa constrictors are poisonous during the day. Soon he grew silent. Finally, as they stood in front of a sun-lit jaguar, Matola noticed tears in the old man’s eyes. “I am very sorry, Miss,” she recalls him saying. “I have lived in Belize all my life and this is the first time I have seen the animals of my country. They are so beautiful.”

With no help from the government Sharon started teaching the people of Belize about their own backyard, often taking animals to classrooms on the back of her motorcycle so that she could educate the children about their natural heritage and dispel some of the myths that surround these exotic creatures. Today she’s a national legend even though she hails from North America.

The animals are kept in spacious pens with plenty of cover if they don’t feel like being seen. We were told to arrive early if we wanted to catch a glimpse of the jaguar just in case he might have wanted to take a nap in the shade towards the afternoon. The enclosures are also comically adorned with signs written in a Belizean dialect from the point of view of the animals. The 125 animals housed here are all native to the country of Belize with quite a few of them being on the endangered list. You’ll see all shapes and sizes of cats, from jaguars to to ocelots, plenty of birds, lizards and snakes as well as April, the zoos most famous resident. She’s a tapir and is the national animal of Belize. Check your Belizean dollars and see if you can match up the animals on the bills to the ones in the zoo.

As stated on the official website, “All animal present in the Belize zoo are endemic to the region. They have not been captured from the wild but rather donated by other zoos, removed from the illegal pet trade, harmed by accident or intentionally or have been bred in captivity.” The zoo even has accommodations at the Tropical Education Center that allows for people to spend the night and take part in their nocturnal tours.More information on hours of operation, tours and fees can also be found at the website.

Sharon’s work also extends into the conservation of the habitat of Belize. She was recently part of a failed attempt to stop the Challilo Dam project, a joint Canadian/Belizean project that was supposed to make Belize more energy dependent and reduce the cost of power for the average household. Unfortunately rates have risen for Belizeans while some prime habitat for the Scarlet Macaw and numerous other species have been flooded. To make matters worse those living downstream from the dam are in greater danger should the dam break and their water system has been damaged. You can read all about it in her book.

I was never a huge fan of zoos always maintaining a preference to see animals in their natural habitat. Fortunately for the residents of the Belize Zoo it’s probably as close as they’ll get to being able to live in the wild again. No visit to Belize would be complete without a trip to the Belize Zoo in fact I feel so strongly about it that I think that along with border crossing fees everyone who enters should also pay a fee for the zoo and be given a ticket stub. Don’t miss this opportunity to visit one of the world’s wildest zoos.

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The Belize Zoo: Getting Close to the Wild

If you can’t see Belize’s native animals in the wild, the next best thing is to see them at the zoo.

Just 40 minutes away from Belize City, The Belize Zoo is home to over 150 animals, representing over 45 species, all native to Belize. The Belize zoo, located in the Central Belize Wildlife Corridor, was started in 1983 as a last ditch effort to provide a home to 17 wild animals that had been used in making documentary films about tropical forests.

One of the interesting facts about this zoo is that it keeps animals which were orphaned, rescued, born at the zoo, rehabilitated animals, or sent to The Belize Zoo as donations from other zoological institutions. No single animal was captured in the wild, and they all have a story of how they arrived to the zoo and became an educational ambassador of their species.

While its 29 acres might be small in comparison to other zoos in the world with a similar number of animals, the zoo doesn’t feel overcrowded with animals; and in many occasions, the habitat is as natural as possible.

Of all the animals in the zoo, I was most excited to see the Tapir and the Jaguar, since I didn’t get to see them in the wild while in Placencia and Toledo (though I’m secretly relieved I didn’t have a Jaguar encounter).

Below are some of the native animals from Belize you’ll see at the zoo.

White Tail Deer

April the Tapir

Spider Monkey… My favorite monkey!

Probably one of my favorite things about the zoo were the information signs. They are all written as if the animals themselves were talking to you and had a great sense of humor. Just reading this makes you think if these animals are ghetto!

Kinkajou… So cute!

Junior Buddy the Jaguar. The Jaguar is the largest and most powerful cat of the Western Hemisphere.

Howler Monkey

Panama the Harpy Eagle. This is an endangered species and it is the largest and most powerful eagle in the world.

Crocodile

Coatimundi

The zoo can be covered in less than two hours at a decent pace. The zoo entrance is $30 BZD ($15 US) for adults and $10 BZD ($5 US) for children. If Belizean, the prices are $5 BZD and $1 BZD, respectively.

If you want to make your visit an even more interesting experience, go there by chicken bus. At the Belize Bus Terminal take any chicken bus that passes through the zoo (pretty much most of them) and get off at about mile 28.5 (the driver will stop right in front of the zoo). To return, just wait for a chicken bus on the other side of the road. Each way costs $3.00 BZD ($1.50 US).

After my visit, I might agree that The Belize Zoo lives up to its slogan: “The best little zoo in the world.”

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Travel Time with Ellie: The Belize Zoo

This is my slideshow of the Belize Zoo. By Ellie Simmons.

Hi there. It’s me Ellie. We went to the Zoo in Belize and saw many animals I have never seen before.

Here is my slideshow. I took most of the pictures with also help from my mom and dad and Ava.

Look for my movie of the ocelot. She was so sweet and was like my cat Curry the way she rubbed up on the cage. She kept meowing and I really wanted to touch her but my mom and dad said she was still a wild animal.

The tapirs are neat and funny. They eat two buckets of fruit each morning. Their favorite zoo food is cucumbers.

The spider monkeys thought we were the zookeepers with food. That’s why they stood up in the trees for us.

I didn’t want to see the snakes. We just took a picture of the sign only.

They have lots of ways to help save the animals of Belize. You can go there and pay money for tickets or help keep your town green. It helps all animals around the world. You can also adopt an animal to help pay for care and food.

Note from the family:

The zoo is a great family stop in Belize. The staff are very friendly. The animals are well cared for and the paths are easy to navigate. Take water and bug spray as you are in the animals natural habitat. It’s great to go in the mornings to watch the feeding times. You can also arrange to go in the “cage within a cage” of resident jaguar, Junior Buddy, sponsored by the Belize Tourism Board. The allows for an up close view of Belize’s signature feline

The Belize Zoo is at 29 western highway, Ladyville, Belize. Tel: 501-220-8004. Www.belizezoo.org

Good job Ellie! We are very proud of her and her work. In fact, she and her sister Ava shared the lion’s share of note taking and photography for this project.

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The Belize Zoo

Finally, I made it.

Apparently, there are deer in Belize.  Who knew?

The tapir is the national animal of Belize

Not a whole lot of security at the zoo - so you can pet some of the animals

This bird was just flying around, but let me get real close to take a picture

Absolutely gorgeous leopard

We got there for feeding time - you can see the chicken in her mouth.

Junior Buddy - The Belize Zoo's most famous resident

If you pay extra, you can get in a cage where they will have him lick your head from outside the cage.

He was huge - look at the size of the paws

Margarita wasn't joking when she said I'd have kids to take to the zoo

Scarlet Macaw

Fancy camera settings

I turned the camera to "ultra vivid colors"  and then captured the second bird flying off - hence the blue blur.

The crocodile was so close to the path and so still, we thought it was a statue at first - until we noticed him breathing.

Howler Monkeys

Playing on the swings outside the zoo.

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