On August 4, 2016, lashing rains and high winds announced the arrival of Hurricane Earl in Belize. With steady gusts measuring more than 80 miles per hour, and 12 inches of rain falling in less than 24 hours, Belize felt the wrath of Hurricane Earl.
After the winds died down and the sun came out, biologists and nature conservationists were faced with the difficult task of checking on the welfare of Belize’s small group of native big cats. Field scientists set up camera traps throughout the wooded terrain where jaguars make their home in sites like the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. Within days, scientists were rewarded with footage showing a mother jaguar and two young cubs seemingly alive and well.
A team helmed by Dr. Bart Harmsen and Dr. Rebecca Foster began relocating cat cameras in higher areas not affected by flooding as well as sites outside of the boundary of the Cockscomb Basic Wildlife Sanctuary in an effort to ascertain the fate of Belize’s big cats. The team were concerned that jaguars such as Ben, an alpha male, pumas, and family groups with young cubs might have drowned or become injured in the storm. Rarely approached in face to face encounters, the scientists nervously watched their camera traps for evidence that Belize’s special felines had emerged unscathed from Hurricane Earl.
The local conservation agency, known as Panthera, have successfully tracked and identified 131 jaguars primarily via the use of camera traps. The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary is the world’s only jaguar reserve. Panthera tracks both young cubs as well as senior citizens in the jaguar world, individuals ranging between 10 and 14 years old.
On his blog, Dr Harmsen wrote about how he, Dr. Foster, and their team were among the first humans to enter the park once it had been cleared by the authorities. Dr. Harmsen wrote about his immense feeling of relief once the team was able to establish that famous residents like Ben the jaguar and Flash the puma were seen alive and apparently doing well on the camera traps.
The scientists are now confident that most of the big cats in the reserve are alive and well. Aside from a missing cub, it seems that the small but vital population of these endangered animals successfully rode out the storm that claimed the lives of 67 people in the region.
The multiple award-winning luxury resort of Chabil Mar on the Placencia Peninsula offers guided tours of the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. Chabil Mar is also ideally situated close to some of the top parks and nature reserves in the country where jaguars and other endangered species are allowed to thrive in protected habitats.
