Jaguar Protection / Management - ERI / Department / Panthera
Jaguars help keep Belize's forest ecosystem balanced. We can all contribute to the co-existence of jaguars and people in Belize. Help preserve them for our future generations.
If you have a problem with a jaguar at your farm in the Toledo District, contact our Human Jaguar Conflict Officer Marchilio Ack at 669-0919. We will visit your farm; provide you with guidance and technical assistance.
For the rest of the country, contact Jaguar Officer Shanelly Carillo (Belize Forest Department) at 664-4550.
If you see illegal activities being conducted with jaguars or any other wildlife report it to the Belize Forest Department.
Expert interviews:
-Frederito Villanueva, Assistant Site Manager at the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary
-Even Montejo, Tropical Science Educator at the Tropical Education Center of the Belize Zoo
The increased diminishing of natural habitats forces many jaguars to hunt for food elsewhere. Often, that elsewhere becomes farms, where desperate jaguars drag off livestock from farmers as a source of food. These "problem jaguars," or jaguars that have repeatedly hunted on livestock and domestic animals, often get killed by farmers just trying to protect their livelihoods.
This project tells the story of Belize's problem jaguars, and how methods of dealing with the jaguars evolved overtime. According to Even Montejo, Tropical Science Educator at the Tropical Education Center of the Belize Zoo, the Belize Zoo takes in about 13 to 15 of these problem jaguars each year and attempts to rehabilitate the jaguars. Those problem jaguars who "graduate" after being trained to peacefully interact with humans go on to larger sites off site at the Belize Zoo.
The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary of the Belize Audubon Society works closely with the Belize Zoo to humanely capture jaguars. This video essay centers specifically around Frederito Villanueva, an Assistant Site Manager at the sanctuary, who tells the story of the evolving technology for the humane capture of the jaguars, as well as his own role in educating visitors about the issues.
Livestock farmers, who are engaged in a jaguar mitigation project with Ya'axch�, are realizing that humans and jaguars can coexist.
Below the foothills of Aguacate village in Toledo, southern Belize, nestles a cattle ranch owned by small scale farmer Abraham Kan. Before sunrise, Kan along with his two dogs sets out on a routine mission to check-up on his cattle. He rallies his cattle with a whistle, and they gather to enjoy the molasses and salt supplement he provides.
One morning in 2014, as Kan gathered his cattle and began doing a headcount, he realized one cow was missing. He followed up with another whistle but it was futile. Kan became worried that his cow was injured and decided to set out in search of it. Near the outer edge of his cattle pasture, in the forested area of his land, his cow lay dead. Due to visible marks and the condition of the body, he strongly believed that a jaguar was responsible for the death of his cow. He set out to track the elusive jaguar but with no success. In the following years, he came across cat tracks but there were no further attacks on his livestock. The experience left him with more questions than answers and made him more determined to find out what led to the death of the cow.
Click here to read the rest of the article and see more photos in the Ya'axch� Blog
In the Mayan city of Cop�n, at the base of a 30-meter-tall pyramid, there's a beautiful stone slab known as Altar Q. The altar is square, and each of its meter-wide faces preserves carvings of four of the city's 16 rulers, including its final king, Yax Pasaj Chan Yoaat, who commissioned the structure in 776. It was as much propaganda as historical record. Though Yax Pasaj wasn't part of a dynastic bloodline himself, the altar shows him receiving the scepter of kingship from Cop�n's founding ruler, thus proving that he was worthy of ruling. The altar was a statement of his legitimacy.
There's a crypt immediately in front of the altar, which contained the bones of several birds, and 16 big cats-jaguars and pumas (cougars) packed so tightly that the people who first excavated them referred to them as "jaguar stew." It's likely that these animals were sacrificed on the altar as emblems of power, one cat for each king.
By analyzing the chemicals within the buried cat bones, she and her colleagues showed that jaguars and pumas likely came to Cop�n from distant regions and were kept in captivity for most of their lives. The city effectively had its own zoo, which was part of a wide trade network that sucked in wildlife from a larger area. For three centuries, wild animals-including the most formidable carnivores around-were brought in, housed, fed, and eventually used in ritual ceremonies.
"These people were interacting head on with some of the most powerful predators in the landscape-and that's a feat we don't see in many civilizations," says Sugiyama. "We've always assumed that people in Mesoamerica only had the dog and the turkey-and camels and guinea pigs further south. But I think the dynamics between humans and animals [in the region] were much deeper."
"We think of zoos and captive animals as a very modern thing, and also tend to think that animals in the past are merely food sources or beasts of burden," adds Kelly Knudson, an anthropologist from Arizona State University. "This study helps us rethink both of these assumptions."
Click here to read the rest of the article and see more photos in The Atlantic Magazine
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) - protect the local jaguar population
The recent incident of the beheading of a jaguar reminded us of the need for increased education on the animal's significance to Belize's wildlife. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has been involved in developing practical measures to protect the local jaguar population. Representatives of WCS were our guests to educate us about why these animals are so important to the local ecosystem and they updated us on work being done to preserve their habitats and equip locals who come in conflict with wildlife. On set: Lee Mcloughin - Technical Coordinator, Wildlife Conservation Society Yamira Novelo - Technical Assistant, Wildlife Conservation Society
Jaguars roam throughout a massive territory, as far south as Argentina and north all the way to Mexico-and wandering males have recently been sighted in Arizona. But despite being so widespread, DNA analysis shows that the big cats are remarkably similar throughout their range, which has only been appreciated in the past few decades.
Researcher Alan Rabinowitz was one of the first to argue that this connectivity it vital, and the key to saving the animals. Prior to the idea of connectivity, the conventional thinking "was of scientists glued to a site or a region," says Howard Quigley, Rabinowitz' long-time friend and colleague. "Alan saw this as small thinking."
Rabinowitz, a pioneering jaguar researcher, traveled throughout this area beginning in 2017 on a years-long campaign called the "journey of the jaguar." The purpose of the quest was to study and protect the areas in the cat's vast range, which spans 18 countries and millions of square miles.
Click here to read the rest of the article in National Geographic
In May 2019, a headless jaguar carcass turned up at a garbage dump in southern Belize. The killing, one in a series of similar incidents, added to local outrage and inspired authorities, private citizens and companies to offer a combined $8,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the jaguar killer.
More than just a national issue, the graphic killing in Belize seemed indicative of a rise in jaguar poaching across the species' range, from Mexico to Argentina.
"I suspect for a long time it went unnoticed as authorities simply were not paying attention," said Pauline Verheij, an independent wildlife crime specialist who has investigated the jaguar trade in Suriname and Bolivia in recent years. "Tackling wildlife crime in most if not all Latin American countries has had zero priority until only very recently."
60 Second Science: Measuring Jaguar Density in Belize Panthera Research Fellow Bart Harmsen tells us about his new study on how to best measure jaguar density in Belize's Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. Researchers recommend longer and more varied sampling to obtain more accurate#jaguar estimates.
The Jaguars of the Belize Zoo A tour of the Belize Zoo with education director Jamal Andrewin, focusing on a few of their jaguar ambassadors and the goal of their conservation programs.
The Jaguar Rehabilitation Project at the Belize Zoo A quick introduction to the jaguar rehabilitation project at the Belize Zoo by education director Jamal Andrewin, focusing on some of the challenges jaguars face in Belize.
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Awesome experience to see a jaguar swimming from island to island on the flats while heading to the permit grounds .
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