Tonight, the captive jaguar that escaped in south-western Belize is still on the loose – and 7news has learned that traps have not been deployed yet. The cat is a two to three year old female and the Chief Forest Officer could not tell us exactly when it escaped. But our information says it could be as many as six days ago.
This afternoon, Belize's foremost Jaguar expert Omar Figueroa went to the area in Ringtail Village at mile 40 on the Hummingbird Highway in the Cayo District. Before leaving he discussed the case with us very generally, because at this point, he is just being brought into the picture.
Figueroa who has trapped Jaguars extensively throughout Central Belize said that female jaguars in the wild are far more aggressive than male cats. He said the risk is that this jaguar – which has been in captivity since she was a cub - can't hunt and sees humans a source of food. He said he hopes that the cat is staying close to her home area, because if she has started to move out further, that would be "a worst case scenario." In the wild, female cats have a home range of over 120 square kilometers. Again, Figueroa had no direct knowledge of the specifics of the case, since he was just brought into the picture this afternoon. He says he has to orient himself to what's been happening in the area since the cat escaped before he can make a decision to lay any traps.
As we reported, the cat was a pet – permitted by the Forestry Department – of the Pollack Family in the area of Ringtale Village. It escaped some days ago – but no one can tell us with certainty how many days – though, best information, pouts the escape at sometime last weekend. Figueroa warns that if the cat hasn't eaten since then, it might be even more dangerous.
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