We told you last week that Lemonal Villagers have been losing their pets to a jaguar in their area. Over the weekend that jaguar - a male named Anri - was captured for the second time. Anri got his name because he was first found near the Agriculture and Natural Resource Institute in Stann Creek after he had killed up to 20 dogs.
While the zoo was instrumental in his first capture, the Forestry Department and CSFI later put a GPS collar on the jaguar and set him free in the north, where he eventually made his way to Lemonal and returned to preying on dogs.
And though he was captured again, this time, Anri might not make it back out into the wild. Courtney Menzies has this story.
This is Anri - the jaguar that's been terrorising the villagers of Lemonal. He was first captured last year, relocated, and found his way back to a populated area.
But while Anri had been prowling in the dark and killing dogs for some time, he was finally caught on Sunday in a trap which used a dead calf as bait. The cage was placed in Nicole Anthony's yard - the resident who we spoke to last time.
Anthony told us that while she's glad Anri won't be eating any more dogs, she feels that the entire situation could have been handled better.
Voice of: Nicole Anthony, Resident, Lemonal
"I spot the light at the cage at the back and I saw two red eyes moving and I was like, yes, we got him, and I called out to the young man in the house to traverse with me further in the yard and when I spot it properly direct on the cage, I saw it eating on the dead calf."
"We didn't get any disclosure about this animal because they tracked it, they knew where it was, whenever they came in the village, they could have told us where the jaguar was situated. Also because on the lovefm morning show, I heard Mr Pinelo say the trap was set there one or two days before but the trap was in the yard from February 25th."
"And this is when it already killed 13 dogs it went in that cage. It was not only Bruno, but poor little Bruno became a celebrity overnight in death but it was not only Bruno that was killed by the jaguar."
She added that she knows jaguars will always be lurking around their area, but she believes the communication between the Forestry Department and the residents could have prevented a lot of lost pets.
Nicole Anthony, Resident, Lemonal
"I personally am not upset, I know my dogs got killed but I know those are endangered species and their habitat is all over the country, Belize is very small and those things as much as us have to survive. What I am upset about is that they could have notified us so that better precaution could have been taken. Thats the only issue I have that they didn't communicate with us from the beginning so we could have done something like protect our animals."
"I believe that we weren't respected enough and that's what is upsetting because they could have notified us that there would not have been a meeting yesterday because the jaguar has been caught but they could have come and highlighted the do's and don'ts, but not only that, they could have given us more information about it, it already gave us hell so we just wanted to know but yes they chose not to have the meeting again but they could have informed the chairlady."
And today the Chief Forest Officer explained that there was a lot of chaos surrounding Anri's capture and that was one of the reasons why there was a lack of communication.
But where is Anri now? According to John Pinelo, his injuries are being treated and he is not being kept in the small metal cage he was captured in.
John Pinelo, Chief Forest Officer
"Anri is being assessed as we speak. It is being held at a location up north. And we have a full time vet doing a health assessment on the animal. Preliminary report is that it is riddled with screw worms, and one of its canine is freshly broken. So those are two things that need to be addressed immediately and will take a few weeks off to deal with. With screwworms, we can't just take out the the larva and let it go. The bugs will just fly back and pitch there and get it infected again. So it has to be treated, but, it is being held at a safe location."
"When we got the animal, its entire face was was bleeding, its nose was bleeding, and I was made to understand that people who were hitting it put bars in his face. So that might have been one of the reasons for the break as well. I can't blame anybody. Like I said, any of those two options might be the reason why, but we realize that it does have a canine missing that would need to be extracted Because if it is left like that, they get infected, it can kill the animal."
"Anri is being held in a fairly big enclosure. And, take my word for it, it cannot harm itself in the building that it is in."
Pinelo added that due to his broken canine, it is unlikely that Anri will be released back into the wild.
John Pinelo, Chief Forest Officer
"I don't think, it can be re-wilded but, I will wait for the experts to give me that determination. Almost certainly If it cannot, it will need to go to a zoo. I have already spoken to Mr. Poot from the zoo. He is willing to take the animal if that is the option that we make. But for right now, we will have to address the immediate health issues with the cat and try and get it as healthy as it can be before we decide where it goes. Like I said, almost certainly it will not be released again."
And while Anri was stressed after his capture, Pinelo reports that he is much calmer today.
Tomorrow, we will bring you the story of two other conflict cats who were captured and rehabilitated by the zoo as part of their Human Jaguar Conflict Program.
