While zipping back and forth across the country on the Chicken buses we had the wonderful privilege of visiting the Belize Zoo. The zoo was founded in the mid 1980s by Sharon Matola as a way to continue care for a number of native belize animals who were being filmed for a documentary. Sharon soon realized that many Belizians had never seen the beautiful animals of their country and had many misconceptions and superstitions about them. This led to the zoo’s focus on education and conservation.
When Elijah and I visited, all the animals in captivity were rescues that were not able to return to the wild. Many of the species are endangered due to poaching and deforestation. We felt privileged to see so many amazing animals and learn about the wildlife of Belize. The Belize Zoo is definitely the Best Little Zoo in the World!
Harpy Eagal (one of the largest birds of prey in the world!)
Many of the enclosures had clever rhymes like this one!
A little something for the Steve Irwin fans!
(One of my childhood heroes)
One of the zoo's most popular residents, Neo the River Otter. He was brought to the zoo when he orphaned, he was very enthusiastic about us visiting him! He ran out barking with excited when he saw us approach and played tag with me.
Comments