Illegal Jaguar Hunt Exposes Gaps in Belize’s Wildlife Protection

Jaguars are protected in Belize, but that hasn’t stopped illegal hunting, and one case has recently come under the spotlight. A Belize City resident was caught with a jaguar pelt, shining a light on the ongoing threat to these endangered animals. Under the Wildlife Protection Act, it’s illegal to own any part of a prohibited species, whether it’s feathers, eggs, skin, or teeth. We spoke with John Pinelo Jr., Deputy Chief Forest Officer, to find out how the department responds when wildlife laws are broken and what penalties offenders could face.

 

John Pinelo Jr., Deputy Chief Forest Officer, Belize Forest Department

“We have oftentimes gotten reports afterwards maybe a month after or someone will say, you know what I heard about my nearby shooting at Jaguar a month ago. Unfortunately it happens a lot and we try to react to it. We actually are now even more busy with jaguar capture team recapturing and relocating problem animals before people get frustrated and try to shoot them. We just captured a Jaguar a week ago in Hope Creek, he was eating people’s dogs. We captured it took it to the zoo. Along with CSFI, the zoo and our department, we did a health assessment. We put a GPS color in it and we took it back and released it up north. So we are very busy actually dealing with these issues. And I’d like to ask the public that if they have any issues with an, it doesn’t have to be jaguars, any animal that is a danger. They can call our hotline or WhatsApp or hotline. It’s a WhatsApp number,  610-1524. And send us the information so we can assess the problem and respond to it if we need to. But the Jaguars, unfortunately, we have a lot of reports of Jaguars being hit on the road and Jaguars being shot. Like I said, normally we only get the news until it has already happened. Unfortunately that’s the situation.”