Yesterday, a video posted by a tourist sparked intense outrage after he captured his colleague petting a jaguar cub.
Victor and Ruben Stoll were in the Mountain Pine Ridge area where they happened upon a mother jaguar and their cub. They then begin to capture as they chased the cub down a trail. Victor Stoll then explained in a Facebook post that they put the vehicle between the mother jaguar and the cub before approaching it. Ruben Stoll then proceeded to touch the cub, which was in obvious distress. At one point, the cub even hissed at its assailant.
The Facebook posts also explained that the men had been traveling in the region trying to find a jaguar. They had been in the reserve along with Belizean Leslie Penner.
Jaguar experts have since explained that this act by the tourists could potentially lessen the cub's chances of survival, since its mother may abandon it after it picks up a human scent. The Belize Zoo's executive director also explained in a Facebook post that Belize's Wildlife Protection Act prohibits the molestation of jaguars, which are fully protected under the act.
Since then, we have reached out to the Minister of Sustainable Development to ask whether the tourists will be penalized, however, he explained that he had not seen the video before and would forward it to the Wildlife Officer.
