Born to be Wild!

From Sharon . . .

What a beauty! And what a lucky beauty this juvenile so-rare-to-see-in Belize, Ornate Hawk Eagle is. During the recent rainy weather, the young raptor was found wet and shivering , sitting in the middle of a road on Yalbac Ranch.

A concerned guard contacted a Hillbank forest ranger who, together with two ornithologists, identified the bird and then brought the young eagle to The Belize Zoo for emergency care. And emergency care was needed! A respiratory problem was immediately detected -- antibiotics, please! And then force-feeding had to happen, to ensure that the youngster received vital nourishment.

The Ornate Hawk Eagle has a fairly wide range, reaching from southern Mexico into the middle of South America. However, as with so many animals, they are extremely rare to find in most of their Central American haunts. The Ornate Hawk Eagle is one of the most beautiful birds of prey in existence. Crested, white and rufous coloured, what a stunning raptor we have here! The females can be up to 50 percent larger than the male Ornate Hawk Eagle, a size trait not uncommon in the raptor world.

What’s for dinner? These large hawk eagles dine on coatis, kinkajous, snakes and rodents. They nest high up in the canopy and their clutch numbers one, maybe two. The juveniles, once fledged, will remain around the nest area for a year, sometimes longer.

We know that this young Ornate Hawk Eagle had not fledged, but exited its nest by some other means. Blown out? Fell out? We will never know, but due to the fact that the “fledge-feathers” had not even appeared, we know that the bird should still have been in the nest, not out of it.

The upcoming plan is to see that the young raptor is kept away from people, and to keep all human contact at a strict minimum. We are doing our very best to prepare this rare beauty for a life in the Belizean wilds. Flying predators contribute greatly towards maintaining a balance within our ecosystems, and ideally, we would like to see this beautiful bird of prey released back into its Belizean home forest. He or She was Born to be Wild!!!

AN AWESOME CONSERVATION CAMP!!

From Sharon . . .

The recent rainy weather did not dampen the spirit of the 17^th Conservation Camp hosted at the zoo. There were 31 campers, ages between 11 and 14. They came from west and central Belize and northern Belize, Orange Walk. Education officers, Celso Poot and Jamal Andrewin saw that the campers had a worthwhile and memorable experience.

The particular “Animal of the Hour” focused upon during the week was the jaguar. A trip to the beautiful Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary gave all a fun look at the lands which support a healthy number of jaguars in Belize. To reinforce what was learned from their Cockscomb visit, a follow up talk from jaguar field researchers, Bart Harmson and Rebecca Foster, provided an even greater meaning to their jungle “walk about”.

And talk about fun! What better way to explore the Jaguar Corridor than to kayak down the Sibun River, which is an important water way within this landscape. While no jaguars were observed during the field trips, a close up and personal view of these mighty cats happened at the zoo. The mega-star, “Junior Buddy” showed all just how intelligent a jaguar really is – “Junior” is three years old and showed the campers that he can indeed count to three.

Jaguar awareness didn’t end with “Junior Buddy”. The campers also learned about the Zoo’s Jaguar Rehabilitation Program. Nothing like this project happens anywhere else in the world, and an overview of the program as well as meeting “Rehab graduate” “Fieldmaster” and giving this beautiful cat a “high five” brought lots of smiles to campers' faces.

The Conservation Campers enjoyed a night tour of the Zoo, and tried their hand at art projects, too. Mr. Jamal also saw that they fit into their busy activity schedule, a project which had the campers doing scientific observations of the zoo animals. The 17^th Conservation Camp was a successful week of fun and education for all.

Coatis are Cool Critters!

From Sharon . . .

COATIS ARE COOL CRITTERS!

We have three species of animals at The Belize Zoo who are all members of the raccoon family. The kinkajou, the raccoon, and the very cool coatimundi, or “coati” are all in the family known as Procyonidae. Their behaviours and attitudes towards life are very different (similar to any family), and the coati is fun to observe.

They are definitely a “gang”, living in fun-loving groups, spending time climbing, rooting in the ground for coati-treats, and at times, anointing themselves with smell-nice things such as sweet-aroma flowers. However, on some days, zoo personnel will share a bit of scent with them, perfume or diluted pine oil makes any coati a very pleased and happy critter. They will vigorously rub scent into their fur, concentrating on their long tails, and even anoint each other, in obvious glee. It is theorized that coatis will communicate with scent, and perhaps this activity adds to their “quash-communication” profiles.

Those long tails are not prehensile. The coati, unlike its nocturnal cousin, the kinkajou, cannot curl its tail around a branch to hang on high up in the tree-tops. They use their tails for balance. At the zoo, there are climbing areas for the coatis, and oftentimes, when they cannot be located on the ground, just look up! Quash are as comfortable high up in a tree, as they are on the ground.

What does a quash like to eat? Just about anything! They very much fit the bill as omnivores, devouring fruits, insects, lizards, and are known ro nest rob eggs, too. The fourteen coatis at the zoo dine on a variety of fruits and dog chow, and this seems to keep them happy and healthy. A contented animal in captivity will usually breed, and this has been the case with our coatis. As with many tropical forest animals, springtime brings youngsters into the world. We carefully manage our captive coati population, as it would not be a good strategy to be over-populated with coatimundis.

In the wild, coati troops can number as high as thirty-five individuals. This is a female-driven society. Young males are allowed to stay in the troop, adult males are booted out. When people report a “single quash” that animal is always a male coati. In Belize we consider the coatimundi to be plentiful, existing in robust populations throughout our nation and in various habitats.

There is value in maintaining healthy populations of coatis in captivity. For future times, it is predicted that efforts will be put forward to restore de-forested areas into forested lands once again. Coatis are important seed dispersers in a tropical forest, they assist in keeping ecological balance.

Most tropical wildlife is active in the evening hours. Many people wandering about in our parks and reserves during the day, fail to see wildlife. But, the coati is one of our species which is diurnal, and often seen by people who visit the “wild” wildlife sanctuaries in Belize. However! If missed in the wild, The Belize Zoo has a happy troop of quash who are always eager to meet and greet visitors.

Remember: The Belize Zoo has recently "remodeled" its web site! Check out the great new format, and be sure to visit often. You will find some excellent new features, such as links to Wild Belize with Sharon Matola, podcasts from the director of the "best little zoo in the world," along with regularly updated Newsletter segments and Messages from the Director. Get all your most up to date TBZ content from the new and improved web site, http://www.belizezoo.org. This blog will occasionally post, so feel free to stop back once in a while. Meanwhile, see you at the ZOO!