According to Wildlife Officer Rasheda Garcia at the Forestry Department, they received a report on Wednesday morning that the howler had been savagely beaten on the grounds of the Belize High School of Agriculture in Orange Walk the day before. According to the report, a teacher had told some boys at the school to kill the monkey because it had defecated on him while he was sleeping in the bushes.

The report said that in the afternoon the students brought down the monkey with a slingshot, then beat it with tree limbs, tied up its hands and feet and dragged it unto the school grounds.

Again, this is just the report that was posted on the net, it could not be confirmed by us or by the Forestry Department which is investigating.

But, the monkey was on the school grounds, badly injured and barely alive. A teacher rescued it and took it home to try and save it - which is when the Forestry Department got the report, and took it from the teacher's house to a vet in Belize City. According to Garcia, the monkey is in a quote, "really, really bad condition."

One of its eyes are severely damaged and it will likely lose that eye. It also has a broken tooth and a busted lip, but fortunately no broken bones. More worryingly it also has head trauma and has been experiencing seizures. It has to be spoon-fed as it cannot nourish itself.

Garcia says her department is intent on finding out who is responsible and bringing criminal charges for illegal hunting - which includes molesting protected animals. Howler and spider monkeys are listed as endangered species in Belize.