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#498983 12/13/14 06:56 AM
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Marty Offline OP
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from Wendy....

Some people on Caye Caulker are hand feeding wild crocodiles... Many children go to the south point to fish and this creates a danger for them, not to mention how many people bike in that area. Some people are so clueless.


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This is dangerous and illegal for a very good reason. What these people are doing are putting the public and that crocodile at risk for their own entertainment. I never understand why people insist on doing such stupid and harmful things.


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I think some people are just "ignorant" meaning lacking in knowledge, not unintelligent.
For the record, feeding them makes them associate humans with an easy meal, and therefore they begin to approach and be aggressive rather than fleeing like they normally would.
Ignorant people kill them for no good reason, like fear, there are plenty of those also.
I spoke with the property caretaker, he hasn't seen the Croc in 3 weeks.

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Is ignorance a defense in law?


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Not defending this by any means, I just live here and see this all the time.
Nothing much ever happens, so I figured it couldn't hurt to perhaps enlighten some people?
Leave the Crocs alone and they will do the same for you.

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Actually a lot happens. What happens is that crocodile organisations have to compete with other charities, both human and animal to try to deal with these illegal human/animal conflicts caused by people claiming ignorance. Every penny that has to be spent capturing, destroying or relocating these endangered species could be spent on another cause, so it is quite a serious issue. People know that you shouldn't feed wildlife in North America because there have been very extensive publie education campaigns to protect bears and other species from people who choose to feed and put the animals and people at risk. There have also been extensive campaigns in Belize and most Belizeans care deeply about their reef and forest ecostystem. Tourists, visitors, residents and immigrants should so similar respect for our beautiful country.


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I wasn't claiming ignorance of the law as an excuse, people are generally ignorant of the consequences of feeding and familiarizing crocs with people.
People are also ignorant of their relative shyness as compared to Nile Crocs or Australian salties.
Prosecute all the people you can manage, I just don't see it happen here, no one goes to court.

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You're right. There probably won't be a prosecution. It's the Belizean precious wildlife that ends up paying the price for this sort of behaviour. They either end up dead, either because someone kills them because they've become a danger - or they end up in lifetime captivity in a sanctuary because they can't be safely relocated. Please help our wildlife in Belize stay wild and do not feed or interfere with them. It may be fun for you in the moment but it's not fun for the animals in the long run, nor the many people who devote their lives to trying to rescue and rehabilitate the endangered wildlife of Belize to fix the mistakes of those who claim ignorance. It would also mean that charity dollars weren't so stretched and could help other important causes such as our orphanages and schools.


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One of the biggest being told what for I've ever received from a Belizean was when I was trying to discourage a friend from going to see the crocs fed. I attempted to explain why it was not the right thing to do. Had a strip this wide torn off my butt for denying Belizean people the right to make money (being paid by tourists to watch the feeding). Sigh


A fish and a bird can fall in love, but where will they build their nest?

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Collyk is exactly correct.
The only place crocs and alligators are protected is in the Caye Caulker Nature Reserve, south of the airstrip.
The money that is spent there comes right out of the money for the Ocean Academy building fund.

Those who go in the Reserve and feed crocs are trespassing and breaking the law.
They are placing the residents and visitors of that area in danger out of ignorance.

The crocs are only interested in things they can eat, and mating. Until now they completely ignored people unless you rode your bike over them on the path in the dark. I did that twice and Calvin Gentle at least once when he lived there.
If they see us as a food source they are going to approach humans and get killed.
Jim and Dorothy are experts on these crocs and know where they nest. I understand there have in the past been about twelve nests.
No full time ranger was needed in the past. It would be hard to supply one now without a grant.

Last edited by Dane; 12/21/14 03:23 PM.
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"It may be fun for you in the moment but it's not fun for the animals in the long run, nor the many people who devote their lives to trying to rescue and rehabilitate the endangered wildlife of Belize to fix the mistakes of those who claim ignorance."

For the record, no one claimed ignorance, I simply stated that they were.
Some of the locals were promoting this on private property, tourists go with the flow, and it's the locals who kill them also.
So even if you had a ranger he would side with his countrymen, claim they were a danger, end of case.
Unfortunately Caye Caulker is just too small and getting too developed to support a viable wildlife refuge.
You can't build homes and have a crocodile refuge in such a small area.
The locals fear for their children and dogs.

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No one would have to fear for their children and dogs if they didn't habituate the crocodiles to humans and associate humans with food either through intentional feeding or through improper disposal of rubbish. Crocodiles are naturally fearful of humans and it's best for them to remain that way for everyone's sake. Crocodiles are apex predators and absolutely essential to our ecosystem and reef. No more crocs. No more reef.


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Want to help the environment?
Please don't feed wild animals.
A fed wild animal is a dead wild animal.

Don't feed the Squirrels
Because opossums, and coyotes, and bears.



Edison Park looks like any other park. Except for the five-foot long banner posted at the park entrance that warns visitors in bold red letters: "CAUTION COYOTE ALERT."

Coyotes have been sighted in Seal Beach, the coastal California town where Edison Park is located, four times more frequently this year than last. The predators have grown brazen, snatching small dogs during daylight hours-sometimes with owners standing only a few feet away. But the real lure is an urban buffet of trash, pet chow, fruit droppings, and rodents. It's an easy bounty for the animals compared to the task of hunting in the wild.

In October, Seal Beach city lawmakers agreed to catch and euthanize coyotes and impose $100 fines on residents who directly or indirectly feed the animals. At least three coyotes have already been put to death, according to the Los Angeles Times.

But city boundaries mean nothing to coyotes, or to any other animal that has discovered a food bonanza in urban backyards and parks. Coyotes range further now. At the same time, suburban sprawl encroaches on their hunting grounds. Experts disagree over whether the state's record drought has worsened the problem.
Not far from Edison Park, on the other side of the aptly named Coyote Creek, is the city of Long Beach. The problem there is the same; the answer is different. When residents spot a coyote, they blow air horns, bang together pots and pans, and shoot squirt guns. It's a response called "hazing," one that wildlife experts say teaches coyotes to stay away.

But there's an even better answer than that.

IN THE NEARBY COMMUNITY of Costa Mesa, there's a squirrel feeder in my neighbor's oak tree. It is stocked with peanuts, many of which end up buried in my backyard. A family of opossums lived for a time in my neighbor's outdoor fireplace. They ate the same cat chow as her pets. Our city bans this type of activity, but my neighbor loves her wildlife menagerie. She gives the critters names.

There was a time when feeding wildlife was sanctioned.

For nearly 50 years, rangers fed bears at Yosemite National Park. The idea was to keep the bears away from the park's developed areas. For visitors' entertainment, the park even ran a lighted feeding station until 1940.

A little more than 30 years later, the feedings stopped altogether, but the bears continued to scavenge a ready diet of potato chips, hot dogs, and other human fare.

Decades of feasting on a human-provided buffet had changed the animal's foraging and hunting behavior. They had grown unafraid of people, a transformation called "habituation," a change that's not exclusive to bears.

It wasn't until 2001 that the share of human food in bears' diets dropped from roughly one-third (35 percent) to 13 percent, according to a paper published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

What changed? The park installed bear-proof lockers and stepped up patrols in problem areas.

Jack Hopkins, the lead author of the paper and a research fellow at University of California-Santa Cruz, told the Los Angeles Times that the key was a "proactive management strategy to keep human food off the landscape."

What works with bears can also work with coyotes and Canadian geese.

"I told her these raccoons are supposed to be learning to forage, but instead they're learning to come to you for dog food and cookies."
A steady diet of nutrient-poor white bread has created generations of Canadian geese that can't fly, explains Lynsey White Dasher, the director of Humane Wildlife Conflict Resolution for the Humane Society of the United States. Parks across the country posted signs advising park-goers to stop feeding the waterfowl. But what truly cut down on feedings were signs that spelled out the link between a diet of human food and wing deformities, according to White Dasher. A 2006 study conducted in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park showed that visitors were most persuaded by park signs that described a socially desirable behavior. Signs that highlighted the prevalence of undesirable behaviors-in this case thefts of petrified wood-actually increased theft rates.

Along the same vein, she noted that various parks services have run public education campaigns about coyotes for years. The message doesn't always sink in.

"A lot of time people don't get the message until they see a coyote or their pet is attacked," White Dasher says.

White Dasher says public workshops proved effective in changing people's behaviors in Denver in 2009, after the city experienced a surge in coyote sightings and attacks. The workshops, among other things, taught residents to pick up around their fruit trees, cover their trash, and to haze the animals-blow whistles or bang together pots and pans upon sightings.

Afterwards, in an online survey of participants, 30 percent said they covered their garbage and removed food from outdoors. Thirty-two percent started carrying hazing tools when they walked outside. Nearly 100 percent of participants said they shared what they learned with family, friends, and neighbors.

Researchers found that the number of coyote sightings in the area dropped more than 85 percent between 2009 and 2010.

White Dasher said the Humane Society would hold similar workshops this month in Seal Beach, the California town that has been overrun with coyotes.

LAURA SIMON SPENT 18 years talking to people from all walks of life-homeowners, police, city officials-who called into the Humane Society's national wildlife hotline. One time, the police called her about a woman who had been feeding raccoons. The woman had 40 raccoons crawling around in her yard.

The police put Simon, a wildlife ecologist, on the phone with the woman. Simon explained the lasting damage the woman had caused to the animals and their young. "I told her these raccoons are supposed to be learning to forage, but instead they're learning to come to you for dog food and cookies," Simon explained. "One day they're going to approach the wrong person and they're going to be dead."

Simon believes this type of explanation is more persuasive than simple admonishments. And appeals to morals-such as "Want to Help the Environment?"-can be more effective, according to a study of environmental campaigns published in 2013 in Nature Climate Change.

Even so, some people resist. These are the ones who Simon calls "hardened feeders."
Simon recalled a visit to Yellowstone National Park about six years ago, where she saw two coyotes lingering on the shoulder of the road. She asked the park ranger about them. She learned the coyotes had spent their entire lives begging, waiting for passersby to toss food out the window. The coyotes had never learned to feed themselves. The ranger told her they would likely be euthanized once tourist season ended.

"There's a saying, 'A fed animal is a dead animal,'" Simon says. "When that sinks in, people tend to change their behavior."

Traumatic experiences, such as a coyote attack, also prompt change, according to Steve Sullivan, the curator of Urban Ecology at the Chicago Academy of Sciences, although the effect might not last.

Even so, some people resist. These are the ones who Simon calls "hardened feeders." For them, Simon believes, the reward of interacting with a wild animal is too great. "For some people, it's the highlight of their days and nights."

Medieval Europeans believed animals recognized "holiness" in humans, a belief that might well be shared by modern-day man. When researchers in the 1980s studied why park visitors fed big horn sheep, the two most common reasons were to bring the sheep closer and to demonstrate the sheep's trust of the visitor. Being approached by the sheep, visitors explained, made them feel better about themselves and reflected highly on them as an individual. They also believed that other people, seeing them approached by the sheep, would think highly of them as well.

MY NEIGHBOR HAS FED the squirrels for about three years now. She sits on a lawn chair to watch them scamper to and fro, sometimes feeding them by hand.

In her backyard, the squirrels have learned that a feeder chock full of peanuts is the natural order of things. Three generations have passed on a single survival skill: just lift the hatch door and be granted a feast.

I'd like to ask my neighbor to take down the squirrel feeder. I should have asked a few years back, when this all started. But from what I know now, it's likely too late. The squirrels live in a human-created limbo, caught somewhere between wild animal and pet. Taking down the squirrel feeder would probably spell their doom.
Don't feed the Squirrels


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Absolutes are never correct :-) know that's paradoxical but truly there are other points of view.
Please don't stop feeding the fish, birds and squirrels and please leave water out in droughts. Deer are healthier for the salt blocks. We need to subsidize and help animals to survive hardships and we may be the creators of their hardships. Feeders are still wonderful to hummers who need lots and lots of sugar. People food isn't good for wildlife, not good for us either but that's a different topic.
If the world where a perfect place and nature functioned undisturbed, you would be busy scratching the ground for roots and picking berries in the bush, with no time to write this article.
I don't know anymore where or when a tree is bearing, so I can't depend on getting it's fruit to survive. I can't identify which wild plants I can or can't eat or where to find them but I know a MacDonalds cheeseburger cost 1.50usd and I know where to find one and how to get $1.50, OMG who did this to me. I'm feeding the invasive lion-fish to crocodiles. It helps thin the harmful population of lion fish. The crocodiles of our island are being crowded to the point they have to climb from the dwindling lagoons and mangrove and eat our dogs to survive. The balance is gone and unlikely it will be restored with the worlds population of humans being at 7 billion and growing. Maybe the best thing we can do for wildlife is have our tubes tied or get a vasectomy.



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Squirrels, deer and hummingbirds don't eat dogs and little children. There is good reason why there is a law against feeding crocodiles.

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Wait.... Hold on..... Where are you getting the cheeseburger, I need one!

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No little children have been eaten, that's only in the minds the hysterical.


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You are wrong again. There are many documented cases of crocodiles attacking humans. Belizean crocodiles are no different. To justify feeding them because you think it has not happened in Belize shows your misguided reasoning.
PS: you might want to read this, as reported April 8 on Channel 7 news
"Last night the headline news was that a crocodile had killed an unidentified man on a private property in the Ladyville/Lord's Bank area. Well, the victim was identified late last night as 47-year-old father of five Carl Michael Diaz. Diaz is from Benque Viejo, but his family lives nearby and he was fishing when the killer croc caught him.
Tonight while the family mourns for this most unexpected, incomprehensible death, authorities are trying to catch the killer croc. Monica Bodden has the full story:..

Monica Bodden reporting
A routine fishing trip to the back of Green Estate for 47 year old Carl Diaz turned into a tragedy when a crocodile attacked and killed him yesterday."

Also, too bad some of the other criminals on AC don't report their illegal activities on the message board. Guess some are smarter than others.

Last edited by bywarren; 12/23/14 07:15 AM.
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It is logical for artisan to say that Caye Caulker is too small and too developed to support a Nature Reserve.
That opinion was told to me in 1988 when I established the Reserve.
It was logical then, too.
On the other hand, this is the first incident in 25 years so far.
The dynamics turned out to be more complex than that. The Reserve has done great for a whole generation. Many of the older wise heads who said it would fail have passed, and a new younger cadre has risen up with the same perfectly reasonable conclusion.
I think maybe I will keep on trying to save the environment, anyway.

The reason I like artisan saying that is my love for mid eastern cuisine. I had to get it at the Syrian place in the city at one time. When some young folks opened a place on Caye Caulker across from Madeline's hardware, there were few customers at first. People said they would fail because the island was too small and Belize people don't like that style of cuisine.
They failed from management issues, and artisan, who didn't know the island was "too small and no one would eat there" came along and is doing quite well.
I look forward to dining there.i hear the food is delicious.
Seems like I spent my whole life doing things others thought were impossible, like building a high school with little money and two very talented women. I remember the day the Education folks told us we had no chance of succeeding, so we should give up right away. We opened the doors two months later.
Caye Caulker has always attracted folks like artisan and me.

Last edited by Dane; 12/23/14 11:31 AM.
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Our neighbors in southern Quintana Roo, Mexico are selling dive packages including Croc experiences. The package is $1000.usd plus and ovenights at Banco Chinchorro Biosphere Reserve. The crocks are fed Lionfish and the whole experience takes place in the Reserve.
http://www.xtcdivecenter.com/crocs http://www.xtcdivecenter.com/crocs


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I did the trip and came back with a new attitude about them. here is a parting shot of my buddy smiling after I fed him a Lionfish. No children where harmed :-)

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So what is your new attitude? Are you going to continue to break the law in Belize and feed them, or are you going to go to Mexico when you have the urge to feed them?

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I have reasonable cause to apprehend danger from a direct answer to that question and believe that a responsive answer to the question or an explanation of why it cannot be answered might be dangerous because injurious disclosure could result :-)
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Marty Offline OP
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Letter to the Editor: Feeding Crocodiles is Illegal

When I first came to Ambergris Caye in 2008, crocodiles were illegally being fed at WASA Lagoon, endangering the lives of the local community, tourists, as well as the crocodiles. With the collaboration of multiple people and organizations such as the American Crocodile Education Sanctuary (ACES), the Belize Forest Department and Wildlife Officer, the local police, and positive support and interaction with the island community, this illegal act successfully ended. However, it has come to my attention, as well as the attention of ACES and the Belize Wildlife Officer, that a new, young, generation of boys are taking tourists to WASA Lagoon to perform "crocodile feeding shows." Additionally, we have also become aware that tourists are themselves going out to WASA Lagoon to entice the wild crocodiles with chicken and other bait, believing it is ok to feed the wildlife. It is now time for the community of Ambergris Caye to come together again and continue the education to fellow Belizeans and tourists that it is illegal and dangerous to feed the wildlife on the island, particularly the crocodiles.

As the Vice Regional Chair of Latin America for the International Union for Conservation and Nature/Species Survival Commission of the Crocodile Specialist Group, I have encountered throughout Latin America (as well as internationally) the harm feeding crocodiles illegally causes for the local communities. As many islanders know, intentionally feeding crocodiles creates aggressive crocodiles that are no longer afraid of humans. As a result, crocodile attacks increase, which negatively affect the livelihood of the local community, whether it's fishing, recreational, or economic (in relation to tourism). And given crocodiles are a hot commodity that tourists want to see and will pay to see in their natural habitat AND BEHAVING NATURALY, crocodiles that attack tourists in boats or along rivers, lagoons, or behave un-naturally, can negatively impact the local economy as tourists are less likely to travel to places or take tours from tour companies that put the travelers in danger. Additionally, it is only a matter of time before a local or tourist becomes seriously injured or killed as the result of the crocodiles losing their fear, which can have a lasting, somber impact for years.

We have to remind ourselves crocodiles are not the problem- it is the practice of illegally feeding crocodiles that is the problem. And managed correctly, the presence of crocodiles on the island can be a great eco-tourist attraction that can bring more income to islanders as seen in other parts of the world in which crocodiles inhabit. There are various examples, such as in India, Sri Lanka, Australia and Africa, in which communities have used the presence of crocodiles to increase their income opportunity. The Belize Wildlife Officer and I are currently brainstorming solutions and ideas in which both crocodiles and the community of Ambergris (as well as the rest of Belize) can greatly benefit from the presence of crocodiles. However, before anything is implemented, the illegal feeding of crocodiles must be prevented.

The people of Ambergris Caye are indeed fortunate to have such wildlife and natural beauty surrounding their homes. Many tourists from Europe, the United States, and other "urbanized" countries have come to realize the beauty of keeping some of their natural habitat intact, and keeping wildlife "wild." So many of these countries are now reversing the damage they have done (such as South Korea) as they realize the connection between a healthy, natural, environment and a healthy, human population. Additionally, the younger generations are voicing their concerns and taking action to ensure a future in which man and nature can co-exist. And it is these generations (which are becoming the majority of travelers internationally) that want to travel to "eco-friendly" places (which includes wildlife-friendly).

I commend the local authorities and people of San Pedro who have continued to educate others about the Belizean Wildlife laws, such as the illegal action of crocodile feedings. Yet, as mentioned previously, it is time to come together as an authoritative community once more to ensure the safety of our neighbors, friends, family, as well as the tourists, by informing others that the crocodile feedings are illegal and can put the community of Ambergris Caye in danger. By coming together, we can create an environment that ensures the future prosperity (economically and culturally) for the people of San Pedro, in addition to keeping the wildlife in its beautiful natural state.

Dr. Marisa Tellez
IUCN/SSC-Crocodile Specialist Group's Vice Regional Chair of Latin America
United States NSF Post-doctoral Researcher


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Dr.Tellez,
I am sure feeding anything changes behavior and most often change to the negative.
You said the presence of crocodiles on the island can be a great eco-tourist attraction that can bring more income to islanders as seen in other parts of the world in which crocodiles inhabit.

and I agree. The photos above are part of a tourist excursion that cost $329.usd and employs three guides. The crocks are fed Lionfish to attract them. It is an excursion that is popular world wide and creates as you said, more income to the islanders. It also is big business for the hotels that house these visitors and restaurants that serve them.
This particular trip is at Chinchorro Banks and our Mexican close neighbors enjoy those benefits instead of Belizean Tour Guides.
The world is not perfect and will never be, I hope you dont frustrate yourself too much trying to change it.


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