Rebecca Schultz

It has been two weeks since getting back from Belize, and I honestly miss being there so much. Its not just because it’s cold in New Jersey and everything is a lot less colorful, but I learned a lot while studying abroad this winter, and I got to meet some super great people.

I am so grateful to have had this experience, and I would highly recommend this program to others. When I was in Belize, although was learning, I was also

having a fun, which is something you don’t get to do a lot while you are in college, unless you have a class on the farm or work in a research lab.

The instructors who taught this course, clearly loved their work; so, being a part of this program has only solidified that I would love to work with wildlife in my future career. Something that I didn’t realize I would get out of this course was new friendships and a newfound appreciation for those who educate the public and those who actively participate in wildlife conservation programs in developing countries, like Belize. I think that this course does a great job at conveying the ideals and principles of wildlife rehabilitation and conservation, and learning about these has helped me to better understand the struggles of working with wildlife.

The thing I miss most about Belize is-their hot sauce (just kidding)- but, in all seriousness I will miss the biodiversity and the the people being able to coexist with nature.

Before the end of the course we had one last day at the Zoo, where we performed necropsies and worked on enrichment projects. We performed necropsies on a Laughing Falcon, Porcupine, Pelican, Ocelot and an Agouti. These necropsies helped the students learn the differences between different animals and their internal anatomical structure, observe body condition, and analyze cause of death.

Then after the necropsies, we worked on our enrichment projects for the animal we selected, which for me was the Kinkajou. Enrichment in Zoos is used to encourage natural habits that the animals have in the wild and to keep them from getting bored. For the Kinkajou we put holes in a large piece of bamboo, to place some of his favorite fruits ( The Kinkajou “Fuzzy”, really likes bananas), this was to encourage climbing and searching for his food. After we had a suture lab at the Tropical Education Center where we learned the simple continuous and simple interrupted suture.

On our last day of the course each person presented on a wildlife topic of our choice and

had an exam. I presented on the termites of Belize because I think that it is interesting that they are able to sustain aerial colonies. We also looked at our camera trap footage from the past week, and we caught a coatimundi, grey fox and a jaguar on camera!

The ending of this course is bittersweet, I am super glad to have had this experience and make some great friends along the way. I learned so much while I was in Belize, and I won’t ever

forget this amazing adventure. Thank you guys for reading my posts, I hope you have enjoyed learning a little bit about Belize and its wildlife with me.

After our day off for New Years, the class and I went to the Belize Raptor Center, where we learned all about the different raptors found in Belize and about the rehabilitation they do at the center. A really amazing bird that we met was a Orange Breasted Falcon, named Maya. Her and her siblings were born in the United States through a breeder, and were sent to Belize to be released, while Maya’s siblings were released, she was not able to be released because she has cataracts. Many of these birds are feared in Belize for various reasons, especially the Barn Owls, they are said to bring bad omens.

The Raptor Center has a huge education program, where they go to schools to teach children in Belize about these birds so that they don’t fear them and to teach them about the illegal pet trade, which is a huge problem in Belize. While at the Raptor Center the class was invited to the local airport to watch an owl creance fly, this practice is used so that rehab centers can allow their birds to fly larger distances that they can’t normally do while they are recovering and for this owl, to see if her wing is recovering.

The next day we went to the Community Baboon Sanctuary. This sanctuary is a group of 7 towns that are working together to protect and live amongst the Black Howler Monkeys. You may have noticed that it is called a Baboon Sanctuary, but I told you that Black Howler Monkeys live there, that fact is that Baboons don’t live in Belize, but “Baboon” is the slang word for the Black Howler Monkeys. While at the sanctuary we saw two troupes of monkeys each with four individuals, one with 2 females, a juvenile, and one male; the other troupe with 2 males, 1 female, and and infant. This sanctuary is an important example of people coexisting with nature, a lot of people view their home and nature separately, but the CBS proves that you don’t have to pick between development and the environment.

 

The day after the Community Baboon Sanctuary, our group woke up at 4:30 to go bird banding in Runaway Creek Nature Preserve. When we first got there we heard a baby Tapir crying for his mom ,and later we saw both sets of their footprints in the mud. For bird banding you set up mist nets to catch birds, and check them every thirty minutes, so that the bird isn’t in the netting for too long.Bird banding is used to gauge population size, longevity, and migration patterns of the birds. While we were there we were able to catch and band five birds! Later that day, we went to the Zoo for a bone lab, where the group put together a jaguar and a jaguarundi skeleton.

Everything so far has been lots of fun, can’t wait to share more with you guys!

UPDATE:  Belize is Amazing!

3: Since I wrote last I have learned so much. Following our day at the zoo we had a lecture on Wildlife Research Methods, where we learned about different research approaches and the effects that they could have on the animals. We also learned that a lot of times species get overlooked for research, despite their important contributions to the ecosystem, because they aren’t good flagship species. There was also a lecture from the Crocodile Research Coalition (where we got to witness a necropsy for a tiny crocodile), and a lecture about Tapirs. The lecture about crocs was really cool, I learned that crocs have little organs in their skin called Integumentary Sensory Organs, which helps them to feel things in the water and to locate their prey. After our lecture on Tapirs, we go to do a fun exercise, where we tried to locate tracking collars that were placed around the education center using radio signals.

Later that night, we went on a night tour of the Belize Zoo, in order to observe animals that are nocturnal. During the tour we got to feed and give some good scratches to a Tapir names Indie, we gave some treats to the Kinkajou (he really loves bananas), and I held a snake for the first time ever!

2: The next day we had a lecture on mapping, and then we headed to Runaway Creek Nature Reserve. Here we set up a camera trap (a motion activated camera that takes pictures/videos without disturbing the animals), an we will check to see if we got any images a week later. The

camera traps are used to observe animals that we do not always get to see in their natural habitat, and what behaviors they exhibit. We also set up mist netting for when we band birds later in the week.  After setting up we went on a Cave Hike, where we walked through the savannah and forest to explore some of Belize’s Caves. While walking we saw some Tapir and Puma prints! In the cave we reviewed a camera trap that had been in there a few months, and discovered some puma, ocelot, jaguar and bat activity. In another cave on the hike we saw the first discovered Mayan painting in Belize.

1: On the day of New Years Eve the first activity we did was go bird watching around the Tropical Education Center, which is a known birding hotspot. After we went to the zoo to do observations on an animal for two hours, and see what their typical behaviors. We also used this time to develop a systematic plan for recording behavioral data. While at the zoo I observed the

kinkajous, and although they are nocturnal animals they did move around a little bit while I was observing them. After the zoo observations, we had a small lecture on remote drug delivery, and then we practiced using blow darts on a watermelon. (Proud Mom Moment: Everyone in my group was able to get the dart in the watermelon at least once!).

At the end of the day, our group decided to start the new year off right, by going out to a local restaurant and singing some karaoke. It was a BLAST!

0: HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! New Year’s Day the class had the day off to do whatever they wanted. Most of us chose to do a really great cave tubing tour of one of the many cave systems in Belize.