7 News Belize

Belize Zoo's Awareness Campaign On Jaguar Protection
posted (October 5, 2012)
We don't get much news from Caledonia village in the Corozal district - but that village was in the headlines recently when an adult jaguar was killed by hunters and his hide was stripped off as a trophy.

Now, it's illegal to hunt jaguars in Belize or to trade in their pelts or teeth. But it happens - and that's why the Belize Zoo sprang into action with an education campaign.

They wanted to target mainly the children in the village to teach them not to fear jaguars or to view them as a threat. The Principal of Caledonia RC says it was well received:..

Jamal Andrewin, Zoo Environmental Educator
"it's a follow up to the incident that happened in the village several weeks ago and the objective was to turn it into something positive to involve this community that have these jaguars and other wildlife very near their community and interact with them probably on a daily basis and the whole concept is simply education and awareness making them have a sense of pride and respect for these animals that they live in close contact with every single day and for them to understand our value in the conservation of our forest and in all the industries that its connected to."

"We were very well received today and so we felt the objective was met."

Augusto Olivarez, Principal - Caledonia RC
"I believe that at this point on time we need fresh education; our children are growing, they are the ones who will be the future leaders of our country and since we live among these animals - among wildlife, it is very important for us to educate the children and even their parents so that they can be cognizant that wildlife is very important for us humans."

"Apart from that, our people here whenever the cane crop is over they then depend a lot on fishing and a lot of hunting. That is how they survive during the meager season, therefore they need to understand if they continue killing even if it is fish or even if it is game - they need to understand that they also need to control their activity on this."

There is an estimated population of 400 to 600 jaguars in Belize which roam across a wide area form northern to southern Belize.

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