Tonight, Belizeans continue to send sympathies to the staff of the Belize Zoo and the Tropical Education Center. That's because 66-year-old Sharon Matola, the Founding Director of the 2 organizations, passed away yesterday.
Over the last 36 years, Matola has educated thousands of Belizean children at the Zoo, which specializes in turning the rescued animals in their care into ambassadors for their species.
Matola was a well-respected wildlife conservationist; her contributions to the field are many.
Tonight, we take a look at her legacy. Daniel Ortiz reports:
She's been educating Belizeans for nearly 4 decades about our abundant wildlife born out of a deep sense of community and creature compassion:
File: December 3rd, 2013
Sharon Matola - Founding Director, Belize
"It was the Forest Department that called us and told us that this cat is a problem. He was stalking villagers. This guy is very young, he has a noticeable damaged right eye which I suspect led to his becoming a problem jaguar and so we didn't tranquilize him to move him…"
"If you weren't here, he would come up. He does eat out of my hand and he already learned how to give a hi-5."
File: May 12th, 2010
Sharon Matola
"Research has indicated that no more than 800 jaguars remain in Belize. Now that population is good if we maintain and the way we can maintain it is by making sure that their habitat is out there for them."
File: April 26th, 2013
Sharon Matola
"Thirty years of April is astounding. I'm in the clouds just having the crowd of people here and their enthusiasm. I realize the impact - probably more than anyone else - that animal has had on our nation. They are important animals, they are endangered and they are ours."
File: November 14th, 2012
Sharon Matola
"Well I raised Panama, so he is a special boy to me and it's very satisfying to see kids share a love, a likeness, a bond of compassion for a bird that looks like he could pick you up and drop you on the floor right - he wouldn't do that. He is a terrific symbol and a wonderful ambassador for Harpy eagles everywhere."
File: November 16, 2016
Sharon Matola
"It is getting her into a comfort zone and you study what makes them most comfortable with her it was paper balls to play with but especially stuffed animals and as she grew, the bears got bigger and bigger, and finally, I ran out of big bears and now she is more jaguar like so we give her bones."
Dec 14, 2019
Sharon Matola
"I raised him to be an ambassador for his species. In other words to be a beautiful cat, but visoble to people, people friendly so that everyone could understand the beauty and the importance of jaguars."
She turned animals into ambassadors and children into VIP's with a front-row seat to the greatest little Zoo on earth.
And tonight that is her legacy after Matola passed away yesterday at St. Luke's Hospital in Belmopan.
Celso Poot - Operations Manager, Belize Zoo
"We knew that she was an important figure in the conservation field and seeing all the outpouring support we're getting from the public is really I would say its hard to explain in words what we are feeling right now at the Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center."
Matola spent 37 years in Belize following her passion for animals, and she built Belize's most well-known Zoo.
Celso Poot - Operations Manager, Belize Zoo
"The Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center was basically Sharon's life. She visited Belize in 1982 and in 1983` started the Belize Zoo, later on in 1987 they added the Tropical Education Center. Sharon dedicated her life to the protection and conservation of Belize's wildlife and their habitat through the educational ambassador animals at the Belize Zoo. As you all know the animals at the zoo all have unique stories as to how they got there and that is how we used those animals to educate the Belizean public and visitors from abroad about Belize's wildlife."
And while Matola and her team have been able to generate local and international acclaim for the Belize Zoo, she told 7News 10 years ago that building it wasn't on her mind when she arrived in Belize.
File: December 12th, 2012
Sharon Matola
"I came here as an animal trainer, but yeah, I had no idea that I was going to start a zoo. You're right. Well, in the beginning, I did it all by myself. I didn't have this large an animal population here. Now, I've got a keeper staff, Belizeans that are very committed and very earnestly involved in the zoo, and they do it all. 30 years ago, there was nothing. 30 years ago, there was a person running it for 2 years. That was me. I still feed some of the animals myself because I still train them. I am still an animal trainer, and that's why, you can come into the zoo and get it with Junior Buddy, the jaguar, and get a kiss because I work with them. So, we all work together."
It's that same staff which must now carry on her life's work.
Celso Poot - Operations Manager, Belize Zoo
"She was as patriotic as all of us. I think she was more patriotic than some of the Belizeans that really born and grew up here, because she had a respect for wildlife, she had a respect for people. You know that wildlife conservation is not a wildlife issue, it's a people issue and so working with people and working with wildlife hand in hand is how we are going to address the matters - the wildlife issues we have in Belize and we are going to ensure that Sharon's legacy and her hard work live on through the Belize Zoo and Tropical Education Center."
Before she moved to Belize to establish the Zoo, Matola lived in Baltimore, Maryland.
In September of 2011, she was among 28 Belizeans who were honored as patriots.
Yesterday, the Government of Belize sent out a press release, which says, quote, "On behalf of the people and Government of Belize, the Prime Minister thanks Ms. Matola for her contributions to Belize." End quote.
