Saving manatees and monkeys in Belize

Life is gradually returning to normal, despite Belize being impacted by the third Covid wave. As we enter 2022, our volunteer team is once again up to full strength, and we are able to catch up on the release of howler monkey troops that had to be held back as a result of Belize's Covid-19 regulations. Four of our manatees are completing soft release, and the past two years without tourism boats on the waters coincides with the first time for many years that we don't have calves in intensive care.

There is nothing so satisfying as successful conservation outcomes – this January we were revisited by Twiggy, one of our rehab manatees. Twiggy has come a long way since her rescue as an orphaned neonate calf in 2009. At intake, she was only 1.18 m long, and weighed 56 lbs. In 2013, she was over 500 lbs and successfully reintroduced to the wild population in Corozal Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. We normally see her for one or two days every six months or so as she passes by, and it is a pleasure to see her well-rounded body and to know that she is doing well in the wild - eight years after release and twelve years after her initial rescue. She is HUGE!!! She now measures 2.6 m...a far cry from the emaciated calf that arrived all those years ago - and is a reminder of the outcomes of the work that we do – the work that your donations support. You can find more about Twiggy in this SHORT VIDEO, adapted from a children’s book written by Justin Taus, illustrated by Gabrielle Doucet and narrated by Katie Dyke.

Twiggy has stayed longer for this visit, interacting with the four younger manatees on soft release (Hope, Chikki, Callie and Sandy). All four have excelled in the soft release phase – we track them each day using Americaloc GPS trackers and have watched over the last months as they start moving further and further from the lagoon enclosure, heading out to graze on their preferred seagrass areas. Each morning, they return to Wildtracks for a supplemental feed, providing us with the opportunity to check their weight and general condition. We have built up tracking data of their movements over the last five months, providing data that we can use to inform future releases.

Nugget and Teak are next in line for soft release – they are currently housed in the lagoon enclosure, and ‘chat’ with the soft-release manatees through the wire. We have been using acoustic equipment to monitor the chatter, both inside and outside the lagoon enclosure, increasing our knowledge of manatee vocalizations.

Despite the national Covid-19 lockdown, there has still been rescued and surrendered howler monkeys coming in through the Forest Department. We have two howler monkey babies in the nursery at the moment (Millie and Inca), both of whom have been through quarantine and are now being integrated to form the nucleus of the next release group. Inca arrived as an intensive care monkey, needing to be housed in the ICU incubator for the first week. He spent the first 12 hours curled up in a tight ball of stress - a bag of bones on the edge of existence. It is these individuals that need the ICU to survive. Inca is now moving forwards, healing by the day, gaining strength and energy and gradually looking less like a starving scarecrow and more like a healthy young howler monkey.

Over the years, the incubator has saved many small lives, contributing significantly to the high level of success in the care of young primates and critical care wildlife that come into the rehab center. Many of these individuals are rescued from the illegal wildlife trade and arrive in critical condition. For howler monkeys like Inca, the incubator saves lives, and these delicate babies grow over the two to three years of rehabilitation, developing into strong juveniles with tight troop bonds, ready for release into the wild. They learn to be howler monkeys, with the skills needed to survive. Two years after release, these howlers, once so small and fragile, will have their own young, in the forest, where these monkeys belong.

The howler monkey releases are part of an endangered species reintroduction programme with an exceptionally high success rate of 95% post-release survival through the first year, and first and second-generation babies born in the wild in a flourishing new population at the release site in Fireburn, part of Belize’s northeastern biological corridor. Achieving and maintaining very high survival rates through the rehabilitation process, often starting with critically ill infants from the illegal wildlife trade, requires a great deal of experience, incredible support from our volunteers, commitment – and the right equipment. Highly intelligent, sentient endangered species like howler monkeys need the best care we can provide - but one doesn’t have to be an endangered species to benefit from such an intensive care unit – when not needed for baby monkeys, ours is used for other critical needs - baby squirrels, raccoons, coatis and even a grison. For wildlife rehabilitation organizations such as ours, this is a 'must-have' piece of equipment for successful critical care for young mammals. Your donation, and donations over the next two months, will contribute towards the purchase of a second incubator to ensure we are able to maintain quarantine conditions and still provide critical care during baby primate time of the year.

You can catch up on this and other news in the latest Wildtracks Newsletter

Thank you once again for making rehabilitation of these amazing species possible – giving them the opportunity to return to the wild and contributing to Belize's national endangered species conservation outcomes.

Work at Wildtracks continues, even though a third Covid wave sweeps through Belize, bringing the country to a standstill...again. Wildlife rehabilitation cannot be put on hold, or stopped...the endangered species in our care cannot (and will not) be abandoned  because life is throwing virtually unsurmountable challenges in the way - over the past year we have had to work out how to access fruit supplies for more than fifty primates and water hyacinths for six ever-growing manatees when the country is on lockdown. At times, with the borders closed and no volunteer support, we have had to do the work of sixteen people with a team size of five, we have had to cope with Covid-19 at Wildtracks itself, and in our local community, and once the country started to re-open, we had to find funds for additional staff outside the small budget we had available, to keep Wildtracks going. Both primate and manatee releases had to be put on hold for 2020, resulting in increased animals in care, and the increasing maturity of the individuals leading (in the case of the howler monkey) to the addition of new-borns to two of the troops - new life that brought smiles to the faces of the exhausted Wildtracks Team.

However, it has also been inspiring and heart-warming working with such an amazing group of people. We feel doubly fortunate to have our local Wildtracks Team with us. These people have been committed to Wildtracks throughout the State of Emergency, ensuring that the effective care of the endangered (and not so endangered) species here continues with minimal impact to the rehabilitation process. With support from indivudals and organizations around the world, we have been able to ensure our Sarteneja-based staff have remained employed - these men and women are all stars!! The Primate Tracking Team has now taken on many of the day-to-day primate care duties, with constant smiles and enthusiasm (and jokes!). We are also extremely grateful to the youths from Sarteneja, young men and women, for stepping up and volunteering to fill the gaps in manpower. We really appreciated the extra hands, and the interest and commitment they have shown for the animals in their care, and we are honoured to be able to call them part of the Wildtracks Team.

The arrival of a critical-care manatee calf in the middle of the lockdown added extra strain to the Team - 24 hour care, monitoring and night feeds for 'Teek', estimated at two-weeks old. Following an appeal for volunteers, a wave of young people from across Belize signed up to join the Wildtracks manatee team for a week to two weeks at a time, happily taking to life in the wet zone, building their capacity for critical manatee care, and bringing laughter and fresh energy, supporting us through this critical care period! 

We are now moving forward, with four of the manatee calves entering soft release - the final step towards their final release back into the wild population. Three howler monkey troops are now back in the wild, and doing well in their new sites. Those troops with young are now reaching a point where moving them towards release will not be a risk, with the youngsters approaching weaning age, and plans are in place for their release before the end of the year.

This appeal has been launched as we are not out of the shadow of Covid-19 yet. We are still counting the costs of keeping the rehabilitation activities effective and producing the conservation outcomes needed for the howler and spider monkeys, and for Belize's manatees in our care, and needing to meet the funding gaps. However, with the financial support of donors such as you, and the heart-warming words of support we have received from Wildtracks supporters from around the world, we are to continue to be able to move forward to face the coming challenges in 2022.

Thank you for your support!