Last week, the Friends For Conservation and Development which co-manages the vast Chiquibul National Park sounded the alarm in a press conference which outlined the swarm of incursions, invasions and encroachments that are presently being visited upon the park by Guatemalans.
They documented, specifically, how much of the national tree, the Mahogany has been lost; it's about 1.5 million board feet.
And, tonight the news is that the invaders haven't only taken so much of the national tree, now they're also taking the national animal, which is the Tapir.
A disturbing case recently came to light where a Guatemalan Xatero threw away a crocus sack as he fled from Belizean authorities.
Inside the sack, they found a tapir calf, only a few weeks old - separated from his mother - who no doubt had to have been killed - and packed up in a sack, to be taken to Guatemala.
It's a sickening story, but one that almost had a happy ending. Richard and Carol Foster provided video of the journey made by the tiny calf in the past few days. We've put the story together, and it begins in the Chiquibul:
Elroy Reyes Park Ranger, FCD
"Yesterday we were on patrol and while on patrol we saw a person coming then he saw us and then he ran. We did not see if he dropped any bag. He just ran in the bush and went. We did not follow the guy. So we went and when we came back we search the area where the guy escape from us, the guys were searching the area and then I saw a bag and I told the guys that I found a bag. I took the bag and when I opened it there was a young Tapir in it."
Jules Vasquez reporting
The Tapir is this one - being fed at the aptly named Tapir Camp, which is the base for the friends for conservation and Development in the Pine Ridge.
On this day, The Forestry department had sent for personnel from the Belize Zoo to take him in after getting a bellyful, he was picked up - squealing in distress - to be carried down to the zoo. Like any new adopted child, the fretting calf had to be put in the back seat of the Hilux for the five hour drive to the Belize Zoo.
It was night when he got to the zoo and he still had to pose for the camera.
Sharon Matola, Director, Belize Zoo
"Part of the damage that occurred was that obviously a mother Tapir was shot, I am sure she was eaten and the baby was stuff into a bag and was headed to Guatemala possibly to be eaten or sold as a pet, who knows, something devious and the guys up there stop it. They kept the Tapir, the Guatemalan fled back to Guatemala and we got the Tapir. We appropriately named him Chiquibul. Then now what?"
The crazy idea they had was to put the tapir calf, now named Chiquibul in the same cage with a nursing mother, Navidad and her ten month old Calf, Marchisismo.
Sharon Matola, Director, Belize Zoo
"We got together last night and said let's try this out, let's put the baby Chiquibul in with Navidad and see if she will take care of him. If she does, if she suckles that baby....wow! First of all it's a huge OH WOW! because I can tell you I don't know if the surrogate mom situation has ever occurred, ever, ever in my history of knowing what's going on with the Tapir world."
But the unprecedented is just what happened:
Sharon Matola, Director, Belize Zoo
"The keepers have seen Navidad nursing Marchismo, so we thought hey, what about if she nurses two. It's never happened anywhere as far as I know in the world where Tapir act as a surrogate mother."
Zoo Keeper
"We spread her down and he just went for the milk."
Tony Garel, The Belize Zoo
"I could understand he like to suck, maybe he just like to suck but I don't know if she is still producing milk."
Zoo Keeper
"She is. This morning when we brought him over we brought him in a cage and we release him and there was absolutely no problem. Navidad came to him and they start licking each other."
Sharon Matola, Director, Belize Zoo
"I bet you were scared?"
Zoo Keeper
"I was scared, really honestly. I thought she would kick him away or crush him. The only jealous guy was Marchismo."
Sharon Matola, Director, Belize Zoo
"We have to figure out how to deal with Marchismo."
Zoo Keeper
"The main thing we wanted to see is whether Navidad would lay down and suckle the baby. We had to scratch her down couple of times, separate Marchismo and then we took the baby to her while she was laying down. We saw her feeding the baby for a couple of minutes. I think this is going to help us all, she is proudly going to take care of the baby. It takes a lot of time and energy to prepare a bottle and spend a lot of hours feeding a baby. Navidad could do that. She has shown that maternal qualifications."
And while Navidad and the zoo staff dutifully did their best, word from the zoo this evening is that the ill-fated calf Chiquibul died this afternoon.
The calf died this afternoon - Matola says he was not in great shape. He came to them with a damaged back leg and puncture wounds on his skull. The zoo will have a necropsy to determine the cause of death.
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