Cockscomb Jaguar Sanctuary

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From the highway we turned off onto a dirt road toward cockscomb wildlife sanctuary, the only sanctuary established specifically for the preservation of wild jaguars. We began to descend into the lush, semi-mountainous jungle where these impressive predators reside. Arriving at the visitors center we paid the park admissions and campsite fees, reviewed the trail map then headed toward some waterfalls to cool off. The trail was fairly short and not too strenuous but enough to work up a good sweat in the hot, humid jungle air, which made the cool water supremely refreshing. The jungle here is reminiscent of something from the era of the dinosaurs with huge palm trees comprised of frons 30 ft long, towering over the trail. Thick jungle vines and fern trees add to the prehistoric feel. The sounds and sight of numerous birds surround us as we walk along the trail. We spotted a colorful tree frog as well as a vibrantly green snake that was about 4 ft long. He looked pretty poisonous and I kept my distance as he crossed the trail. We eventually headed back to the visitors center and started a pot of lentil and black bean vegetable soup in the communal kitchen. After reducing the soup to a simmer we set out on another hike up tiger fern trail to a different set of water falls. the hike was longer and more strenuous and the falls more impressive. From the lower falls we climbed the slippery rocks adjacent to the falling water to reach the upper water fall. The upper falls were bigger and had a nicer pool where we relaxed under the rushing water until we were chilly, a nice feeling in the steamy jungle. At the top of the ridge there was a good campsite with a view of the surrounding area including Victoria peak, the second highest in all of Belize. We returned back to consume some soup. The communal kitchen was crowded with a high school tour group, a stark contrast to the uninhabited trails.

That night we met Bart, the jaguar coordinator of Belize who gave a short talk to the tour group. We conversed with him for a couple hours about jaguars, his work, the conservation effort, etc. He was a wealth of knowledge, friendly and a generally cool guy who gets to trap and monitor jaguars for a living. He said that a large part of his job is analyzing feline feces and he gets particularly excited when he finds a spectacular pile of shit. They've started using a trained dog to find the poop which has facilitated their poop analysis greatly. The jobs not all about the poop and this month he and his colleague have already caught, drawn blood and collared six jaguars with tracking devices. They use snares then drug the big cats to an inebriated stupor. We inquired about any volunteer opportunities because trapping jaguars sounded pretty cool. Bart said they don't really need any help at the moment but gave us his email so we cold contact him in the future and maybe something would be available. It would be an amazing experience to work in the jaguar preserve, even if most of the time you're just sifting through cat shit, the opportunity to go help collar a snared, drugged up jaguar would be awesome.

The next morning we woke up at sunrise, ate the left over soup and went on a hike on a long, remote trail that Bart had recommended to possibly see a jaguar. Armed with cameras in hand, we removed our sandals and crept along the trail bare footed, looking for the elusive jaguar. Unfortunately we didn't see any jaguars but it was fun stalking through the jungle as quietly as I could. An interesting fact I learned is that keeping a donkey or two among your livestock will scare away most hungry jaguars. Donkeys are curious and will approach anything that makes noise and if attacked will bite and kick. This is enough to deter most jaguars but a large 250lb male will hardly hesitate to take out a full grown donkey or any thing else that looks tasty. Also jaguars have the most powerful bite out of all the large cats and can easily crack turtle shells in their jaws.

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