Witness Details Moments Behind Controversial Jaguar Cub Incident

A friend who was with the Stoll brothers during the now-controversial jaguar cub encounter in Mountain Pine Ridge is speaking out. Leslie Penner told News Five the group was birdwatching when they spotted an adult jaguar and its cub near their vehicle. He says one of the brothers later touched the cub, calling the move “unnecessary” and “reckless” because it could have created a human-wildlife conflict. Still, Penner insists there was no malicious intent, pointing to the brothers’ long history of conservation work in Belize. While he agrees that the cub should never have been touched, he believes their broader record of supporting wildlife protection should also be part of the conversation.

 

Dr. Celso Poot, Managing Director, Belize Zoo

“The mother abandoning the Jaguar, not likely, but it’s the stress that was brought on to it. But because we don’t know, so sometimes these are what we call traditional ecological knowledge that is passed on to us, in captive environment these young are not handled until mama bring them out for the public to see. Normally what they do in zoological facilities that breed these animals is they monitor them through cameras. So, you can see how they are doing. Eventually when they come out, when the mother feel it is now safe, they bring them out and the public can see them. But handling them, definitely not recommended.”

 

Leslie Penner says that he believes the nature in Belize is better now because of the Stoll brothers, than it would have been without them.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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