Sunday, January 5, 2014-- The rain finally stopped, and we made
our way from San Ignacio to the Belize Zoo that is located 29 miles just
outside of Belize City. The zoo was founded in 1983 by a woman named Sharon
Matola who arrived in Belize the previous year to create a documentary about
the rainforest; however, when the project stopped, she was left with twenty
animals to care for. She realized that the animals could be used to educate the
people of Belize and its visitors. We learned that all the animals in the zoo
were not removed from their natural habitat. In fact, the animals in the Belize
Zoo arrived there as a last resort, because they were found injured, orphaned,
were born in the zoo, were given to them from other zoos, or were confiscated
by the government from individuals breaking the law against owning wildlife.
As soon as we arrived, our group decided to follow the map
backwards, so we began with the owls. A zookeeper named Jorge was tending to
them and was ready to let us interact with the mottled owl whose name was Mona
Lisa. Mona Lisa lived up to her name; she was so beautiful with her big eyes!
Jorge mentioned that a group of visitors were about to meet one of their
jaguars, Junior Buddy, and invited us to watch. Two women and another zookeeper
were in a cage awaiting for the jaguar to come by. When he was in sight, I
believe just about everyone was amazed by him. Jaguars are such graceful creatures,
yet they can kill a human within seconds. Our group decided to go in the cage
to interact with him. The zookeeper in the cage with us mentioned that they are
the first in the world to "somewhat train" their jaguars, as they are
very independent-minded and do whatever they want. The zookeeper got Junior to
do a few somersaults for us, while providing positive reinforcement by giving
him a treat each time. Then, the jaguar was instructed to jump on the cage, so
we could touch its paws and belly. It was an incredible experience!
Other animals that we saw were harpy eagles, grey foxes,
crocodiles, jabiru storks, deer, vultures, parrots, toucans (the country's
bird), otters, spider monkeys, and so on. After walking around for a while and
being a bit disappointed that we couldn't find some of the animals hiding in
their cages, we ran into the zookeeper, Jorge. He asked us what animals we had
and hadn't seen, and he told us that he would show us the animals that we
didn't get to see. He had a bucket of raw chicken and lead the way. We got to
see the puma, ocelot, black jaguar, jaguarundi, kinkajou, and margay up close
thanks to Jorge. He made our experience at the zoo that much better. Towards
the end of the tour, the zookeeper asked us if we wanted to hold a snake, so he
brought out a python and put it around us as if it were a scarf.
If you don't want to miss out on seeing any animals, stick to the
zookeepers. They are more than happy to show you around and bring the animals
out from hiding, so you can capture some great photographs.
After the zoo, we made our way to Belize City to check in at the
Princess Casino and Hotel, which we will be staying at for the rest of our stay
in this beautiful country. A group of us decided to wander off a short distance
from the hotel to watch the soccer game that was going on just across the
street. Unfortunately, we only caught about five minutes of the game before it
was over. However, it was interesting to stick around for a few more minutes to
do observe the people around us. It was interesting hearing everyone around us
speaking Kreole.
It has been an entire week since we arrived in Belize. This
country has yet to cease to amaze us and continues to teach us something
everyday.
Gloria C. Rivera
Vice President, Students for Global Communication
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