Guatemalan poachers in the Chiquibul - it’s an old story that we’ve told many times, but tonight is different. For the first time, the Friends for Conservation and Development is reporting that they’ve caught a pair of what are called “Guagerosâ€￾, the term for Guatemalan macaw poachers. On Monday morning at 4:00 am, as they were crossing the Chalillo Lake swimming, the park rangers apprehended them. They are 40 year-old, Victor Noe Aldana Lopez of Dolores Peten and Antonio Ramirez de Ramirez of Dolores Poptun. They had 2 long ropes and spurs used to climb the tall trees. They said that they were planning to remain in the area for another three days. They reported that young macaw chicks can be sold as much as 1,500 quetzales or $450.00 Belize dollars. They were escorted to the San Ignacio Police station pending charges by the Forest and Immigration Departments.

FCD confirms in a release that that this is the first but they conclude that some macaws may have already been stolen from nests and sold in southern Peten this year.