So is the Zoo being blocked? Yesterday, we spoke with the Chief Forest Officer via Zoom who explained why they weren't involved in Anri's recapture. John Pinelo explained that CSFI - the Corozal Sustainable Future Initiative - was more equipped to get to the location and handle the situation. He also added that the Zoo is welcome to join the team - but as an equal and not a leader. Here's what he told us.
John Pinelo, Chief Forest Officer
"The Zoo has role to play with us in Jaguar management, if and when they want to be a part of it. I had a conversation with Mr. Poot this morning and I reiterated, I said, Celso, there's a spot for you guys to assist us, but We have to work as a team. We can't work independently and separately. And that is what I think, the changes that we have made, might make the zoo feel like they are sidestepped, but it is not. We have asked them to participate in even the last capture that we had. This one happened so quickly that, the CSFI team was in Lemonal by 7:00. I wasn't even awake yet and they were already there reacting to the situation. And that is not because we want to boycott any one organization, they have their role to play, as I said. And, as long as they're willing to play it in terms of the three organizations that do wildlife management, And I say three, because the zoo is considered one of them. They will have a place in jaguar management."
Jules Vasquez
"But not at an apex place, because the apex is reserved for CSFI."
John Pinelo, Chief Forest Officer
"No, no, no, there's not an apex. This is a tripartite arrangement. And this is the issue that I don't want to continue propagating. There's no apex. There's no me come first, you come second, we come third. It is who can respond properly and who follows the jaguar protocol that we have. We have one of the very few Jaguar capture teams in Central America, and the majority of the staff is from CSFI and Forest Department. They are trained in how to capture jaguars and the proof is the capture that happened in two days."
But was Anri's injuries caused because of the cage the CSFI team used? Pinelo explained that they used the resources that they have.
Jules Vasquez
"But I can also say The proof is that the cat injured himself inside your brutish cage. Should you all not have used a cage that was outfitted with plywood so that the animal, I understand they're very powerful, but would've been less likely to harm itself?"
John Pinelo, Chief Forest Officer
"Jules, I will send a quotation for a new cage to channel seven and see if you want to sponsor one For us, the cage that we have is the one that we could have afforded. It's made of sheet metal, and then the part that we put the bait in is made of expanded steel, and we use the side for sheet metal because we realize that the animal can injure itself. But when it goes into the very short section that has the bait, there is a possibility that it might hurt itself. I also have to make sure that I protect my officers when they are carrying this cage With a stressed, angry, 20-hundred-and-fifty pound cut in it. And so, forgive me if my cage is not as accommodating as the Belize zoo would like, but, it is what we have, and it is what works right now."
"We have a formal MoU that was signed between the Forest Department and see us apply for the joint management and reaction to jaguar and jaguar situation, because as I said before, they have a majority of the jaguar capture team that was trained."
