{"id":195804,"date":"2025-10-07T20:23:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T20:23:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/195804\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T20:23:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T20:23:16","slug":"belize-forest-department-condemns-shooting-of-jaguar-in-independence-village","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/195804\/","title":{"rendered":"Belize Forest Department condemns shooting of jaguar in Independence Village"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> Views: 624<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t Views: 615&#13;\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>Posted: Tuesday, September 30, 2025. 2:28 pm CST.<\/p>\n<p>By Zoila Palma:\u00a0 The Belize Forest Department says that it conducted a site inspection on September 29, 2025, in response to a report of a dead jaguar in the Malacate area of Independence Village, Stann Creek District.<\/p>\n<p>Upon investigation, officers confirmed the carcass of an adult female jaguar weighing approximately 110 pounds.<\/p>\n<p>The animal was in an advanced state of decomposition and showed evidence of having been shot.<\/p>\n<p>Further examination revealed that one of the jaguar\u2019s canines had been removed, a clear act of illegal tampering. The carcass was subsequently buried by the Forest Department.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Ministry of Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Solid Waste Management, together with the Department, strongly condemns this act and stresses that jaguars are fully protected under the Laws of Belize.\u00a0 Jaguars are not only a national symbol but also a keystone species, playing a critical role in maintaining healthy ecosystems.\u00a0 The killing, possession, or trade of jaguars or their body parts is a serious offense carrying penalties of up to $10,000 in fines.\u00a0 Offenders will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n<p>The Department says that it recognizes that human-wildlife conflicts, particularly between jaguars and livestock owners, do occur. In these instances, community cooperation is vital.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConflicts should be reported immediately, and the Forest Department commits to responding within 48 hours to assess and address the situation. Where carcasses are surrendered intact and no evidence of poaching is found, no charges will be pursued. However, tampering, removal, or possession of wildlife will result in strict enforcement action,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n<p>The Forest Department thanks the public for reporting the incident that calls on all Belizeans to be vigilant stewards of our natural heritage.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery report makes a difference in protecting wildlife, reducing conflicts, and preserving the balance of our ecosystems,\u201d the Forest department said.<\/p>\n<p>Community members are urged to report any wildlife conflicts and illegal activities by contacting the Wildlife Hotline at 610-1524 (phone or WhatsApp).<\/p>\n<p style=\"border-bottom: 1px solid #989898\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:left\">Advertise with the m\u043e\u0455t v\u0456\u0455\u0456t\u0435d n\u0435w\u0455 \u0455\u0456t\u0435 \u0456n Belize ~ We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages. Your content is delivered instantly to thousands of users in Belize and abroad! Contact us at m\u0430rk\u0435t\u0456ng@br\u0435\u0430k\u0456ngb\u0435l\u0456z\u0435n\u0435w\u0455.\u0441\u043em or call us at 501-612-0315.<\/p>\n<p style=\"border-bottom: 1px solid #989898\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"desktoponly\" style=\"text-align:left\">\u00a9 2025, BreakingBelizeNews.com. Content is copyrighted and requires written permission for reprinting in online or print media. Theft of content without permission\/payment is punishable by law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Views: 624 &#13; Views: 615&#13; Posted: Tuesday, September 30, 2025. 2:28 pm CST. By Zoila Palma:\u00a0 The Belize&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":{"0":"post-195804","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}