An Unforgettable Fellowship in Belize

Join 2021 Winston Cobb Memorial Fellow Allison Flores as she joins Panthera’s Belize staff for the opportunity of a lifetime. Read about her work in the country, what she learned and, of course, if she saw any jaguars! 

In 2021, I received the opportunity of a lifetime. I was selected as Panthera’s Winston Cobb Fellow. I was thrilled! I knew that a new chapter in the world of wild cats was about to begin, and even more, the opportunity to continue learning about the largest wild cat in the Americas, the jaguar. 

My journey began in Belize. I had the incredible opportunity to participate in the camera trap survey in the world’s first jaguar preserve, known as Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (CBWS). The emotion completely invaded me knowing that I was about to step into the same place where Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, Panthera’s co-founder, began to write the history of jaguars.  

I remember asking a colleague if she had seen a jaguar. 

"Yes, about five times here in Cockscomb," she told me.  

"Wow, you're really lucky, I've never seen one. If I see one here in Cockscomb, I’d probably cry of excitement,” I said.

On the first day, we started checking and changing the batteries of cameras at stations located outside of the sanctuary. The next day, fieldwork took place in the heart of Cockscomb’s jungle on an ATV ride through an area called Mexican Branch. After a lot of rain, prickles, mud and mosquitoes, we finally arrived at the first station. We moved and installed the double station (two cameras) to another location and used an overflowing stream as the funnel trap to capture jaguars or anything that uses the river to move across the dense jungle. In the following days, the activities remained the same (except there was no rain) and we checked other camera stations of other trails in Cockscomb’s camera grid. She and I checked camera stations on what she called the Vick Peak Trail, short for Victoria Peak Trail.  

As biologists, we find almost everything interesting in the forest. One morning, while we were walking back on the Vick Peak Trail, we found tracks of the largest mammal in Central America, the tapir. Apparently, a mother tapir took her baby for a walk the night before. The tracks were fresh! 

Hard office work came next, including maintaining equipment (such as cleaning and programming camera traps) and entering data into databases, which are very important to achieve successful jaguar conservation efforts. This activity included the review of camera traps installed in the Chiquibul Forest Reserve in 2020-2021. I had to identify the species of mammals and birds that appeared in the camera traps, the number of individuals including adults and juveniles, and the date, time and name of the station. 

Despite all the hard work, I had a plethora of memorable experiences investigating human-wildlife conflict. But one stands out in particular. One morning, while we were having breakfast, my colleague Emma received a call saying that a community in the Toledo District had captured a jaguar around 3:00 am that morning. "We have to go now!” she said. 

The Forest Department was requesting the presence of Panthera to evaluate the situation and the conditions of the jaguar. I had many emotions. It was going to be the first time that I would see a wild jaguar.  

When we arrived at the community, the jaguar was in a makeshift wooden cage. He was transferred to the Belize Zoo in order to make a health evaluation. A few days later, due to extensive jaguar image cataloguing and 18 years of data collection, the Panthera Belize team realized that he was “Ben", a jaguar from Cockscomb. This took the team by surprise, as Ben was a well-known, dominant male.  Now, Ben will be kept in the zoo because he suffers from a lung infection and his upper canines (which are crucial for hunting) are both broken. It will be his retirement home. I wish I had met Ben in better circumstances. 

My stay in Belize was thrilling. Thanks to the generosity of Mrs. Cobb, young people like me can have the opportunity to keep learning and developing new skills in the field of conservation. It is also a great experience to meet new people and learn about cultures in different parts of the world. I was especially inspired and motivated seeing women leading conservation projects. 

What was next for me? A trip to Honduras to continue my transformative learning experience. Join me for part two of my adventures!

Learn more about jaguars.